


SHIELD Academy

by orphan_account



Series: SHIELD Academy [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Drama, Feels, Friendship, Gen, Multi, Self Confidence Issues, Students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Exceptional teenagers all gathered into one school by Principle Nick Fury, follow the ups and downs of the lives of students, staff and families entwined with the prestigious school. Join nearly 45 students (known heroes and villains, no OCs) and their teachers to observe the chaos both on and off campus. Main characters are teenage Avengers crew, but every character has a story.</p><p>Follow as Loki causes trouble after finding his adoption papers over the Summer. Read as Tony tries to deal with the fact he might not be the king of the school yard after all. Thor struggles with his grades, Steve tries to get used to his sudden popularity, Bruce meanwhile fails at trying to keep himself distanced and not make friends, yet for once he is oddly happy.</p><p>Natasha plays the double part of perfect student and popular girl, but finds herself relaxing for once in her life. And Clint? He's just trying to figure out where the hell he fits amongst it all.</p><p>Teenage Marvel Highschool AU, powers (if any) kept deliberately ambiguous. Will be LOTS OF DIFFERENT SHIPS. Can't be bothered listing all. And many more characters to be introduced later in the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet The Teachers

"...I hope y'all got yourselves well braced for the beginning of another long year!"

And thus were the ominous words Principle Nick Fury began, greeting the room of his acquired staff, some of whom seemed rather bright and cheerful, others their usual stoic selves, and the rest looking as if they wanted a cup of coffee or to just crawl into bed and sleep for another long summer.

Fury's dark eyes ran over his gathered staff, or one should say eye since a black eye patch covered one of his injured orbs that had been lost in an accident when he had worked in a much rougher, uncontrollable school. Some had been present last year in the trial run of the school who chatted now amongst each other in hushed tones of what they were expecting now, and other newer members stood sheepishly by and slightly nervous. This was their first day of school too, after all, and being called to such a prestigious place was probably giving them butterflies.

You see, SHIELD Academy although just facing its second year, had proved quite a success in its first trial run. The idea was to gather exceptional students, regardless of their age, intellectual level, class or status. It was a school as much about trying to get them to pass exams as teaching them valuable life skills and how to interact with people in various walks of life though all around the same age. As a private school, it was still often only kids who could afford it who would secure a place, but this year some had been lucky enough to be invited and sponsored by Professor Xavier, the Biology teacher, and his excessive fund provided some poorer, struggling kids a chance. Other scholarships were available too, Fury himself having issued one to another interesting student... He had no idea how the old fashioned kid would cope, though, but he had hope.

And for those who had nowhere to board or lived too far away to attend? The Academy even had up to date boarding facilities. A three story boarding house, the first consisting of on-campus teacher’s dorms and common areas for dinning, studying and entertainment. The second floor was then assigned for the boys seven ordered rooms designed for two students per dorm. A shared bathroom, study space and recreational space also existed, as was identical for the girl on the third floor. The girls also had seven dorms designed to house two student each. Thinking to himself, Fury remembered something of importance, glad for the pause to gather his thoughts and address the distracted teachers present. 

His entire staff were not present, but enough to get the message around. He knew those not here today had their reasons and that they'd be ready tomorrow for the big starting day. 

"...This year we have a current total of forty four buzzing students... Most are fresh new faces except for the few at the end of last year who we gave the option of repeating in a hope for better grades. Girls and boys are an equal split, though as for class sizes... Some of you will be getting nearly the whole lot while others may be lucky and only have a class of high twenties or low thirties depending on the subjects students chose to drop..." Some of the teachers seemed interested, and hopeful, at hearing those last few words. Fury's right hand woman, Maria Hill, in charge of all administration, paper work, message delivering and time tabling at the Academy took this as her queue to sort through the stacks of files she had brought to the meeting and slowly walk around, handing out timetables and roll lists to the teachers.

Phil Coulson exchanged a smile with her as he received his, already used to this schools bizarre way of running things being a long-time friend of Fury's. He was responsible for Homeroom, which also doubled as a half an hour session every morning to help with tutoring or teaching basics like essay structure, what words really meant in questions, and how to put ones key arguments into a response. Oddly enough, SHIELD Academy didn't offer English as a subject, so this was basically what Coulson was left doing in the morning, making sure the kids were literate enough to express themselves. Last year the class had often turned into a verbal debating session, and that was with much smaller numbers. Now, confirmed by a glance to his paperwork, he would be handling forty four dynamic students each and every morning, but if anyone could keep a handle on them it was Phil, with his cool, calm, collected and down to earth approach. He also doubled as the school's counsellor, since he would be seeing each kid every day and know them by name probably within the first week. He had a bit of a passion for working with so many interesting young adults, and although might come across to them as a little blunt at first, underneath he was probably the coolest, most approachable teacher on campus. Taking a long sip of his coffee, he poured over the updated curriculum, clearly one of the few organised and comfortable teachers to be back and ready for a new year.

Coach Laufey, however, was his usual scowling and grim self as he regarded the paperwork Maria handed him with narrowed ruddy eyes, not pleased with the idea of teaching thirty seven ungrateful teenagers PE as well as having to teach twelve bumbling idiots how to play football properly. Icy by nature and very much not a people person, it was easy to wonder if the Coach had been high when deciding upon teaching as the career of his dreams. Many rumours surrounded the grumpy veteran sportsman, but Fury hadn't given a damn when he hired him. Be as unpleasant and cold as he liked, Laufey filled the spot of teaching the rather popular subject of PE and had steered the Academy's football team to a rather inspiring victory last year even if his training methods were questionably harsh. Had to break a few eggs to make an omelette as far as Fury was concerned, so Laufey stayed no matter how grudgingly. The man always did stop complaining when reminded he was getting paid quite handsomely to be here... eventually.

Charles Xavier took his timetable with a polite smile and gesture of thanks to Maria, the bald Professor clearly in his element now back in the grounds of the school. Where Laufey was all resentment and grouchiness for being kept in the halls of the Academy, Professor Xavier was clearly nothing but passionate about helping and guiding those he taught through life. Hell, the guy was even happy to dig into his own pockets to offer spots to at least eight of their enrolments for this year and get the ones who needed them a spot in the boarding house. Fury had no objections what so ever since Charles was paying, as long as the money was there to keep this place running that was all Fury had to worry about. Charles teaches, and is very enthused about, Biology. And has the record for the most students to pass a subject and the most students to increase their grade level throughout the last trial year. Already Fury was sure of one thing; the thirty seven kids enrolled in his class this year were definitely in capable hands. Xavier had a gift for teaching, and Fury knew he was one of the most reliable on his staffing panel.

Sitting near to Charles, having quietened his arrangements of meeting for a chess game with the wheel-chair bound biology whizz, Erik Lensherr too was polite as he took his time table from Maria if not a little disinterested. None were quite so sure why he had applied for teaching this year, when the grey haired intellectualist had many other more pursuits important to his life. Fury had an idea it was possibly to keep a closer eye on his two children, Wanda and Pietro, who were starting this year. Erik filled the hole in the Language department, as unexpected as it may seem. If being a fluent master in German, French, Polish and Russian was not enough, Erik had also learned enough of Spanish, Italian, even Asiatic tongues and god damn Latin to be able to teach high school level. Hell, English wasn't even the Polish-born's first language, yet he spoke it more eloquently and without accent, a feat for half the people even born in this damn country. Fury often wondered where he had found all the time to learn so many linguistics, but if one thing was clear from Erik's no-nonsense attitude, it was that he had the will power to pursue anything he really wanted to do. Why he was in teaching, Fury had no clue, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Charles, who was so very obviously a long-time acquaintance of Mr Lensherr.

Over in the corner, rolling a cigar between his fingers that Fury would kill him if he dared to light, Mr 'Logan' pointedly frowned as he glanced at his timetable. When he thought no one was looking, the 'Art' teacher scrunched up the paper and tossed it with precision aim into the bin by the door. Almost as if having anticipated such a reaction, Maria appeared before him again and fished out a second copy, giving him a pointed stare, 'don't do that again'. Logan hated the idea of a whole year, his first at the Academy, teaching Art to thirty two snot nosed private school brats. But... He owed his placement here to Charles, trying to give the causeless rebel something to do to fill his time and the holes in his life that couldn't be patch with bourbon or smokes. Admiring Hill's tenacity, he didn't scrunch up the paper this time, but made a note to put it in some forgotten corner of his desk when he would go to check out... ugh, 'his' classroom for the first time. In a way he felt a bit just like another scholarship kid, brought under a roof and into a 'stable' environment by Charles. But hell, he wasn't going to kick a gift horse in the mouth anytime soon. Free rent meant more money for cigars, and now he was going to be making a rather pleasant sum pretending to teach Art to some kids... How hard could one year be?

Dr Eric Selvig was the next to get his roster from Maria, returning from teaching last year but picking up the extra subject of Chemistry to add to his already title of Physics teacher. With thirty two student enrolled in Chemistry and thirty four listed for Physics, he sighed, knowing it was going to be a busy year and wondering where the summer had gone. He had been so happy venturing on his own scientific studies rather than having to stick to a school based curriculum, but there was a bright side to this year. His ward, Jane Foster, who he had been taking care of since her father, his old friend, died... She was accepted into the Academy this year, the cost for her coming out of his substantial double wage rather easily. Selvig was always ultimately happy to get back to teaching when he met the bright, keen students in his classes. But until that began all he wished for was another hot pot of coffee and that today hadn't been the Sunday before the beginning of term tomorrow...

Charles might have been the master of suggesting possible teachers to Fury, but one of their newer staff, Miss Raven Darkholme, had actually been suggested by the equally as new Erik Lensherr when Fury had let him know he had landed the job. Clearly not passionate about teaching, it was the skills she brought to the profession that were rather more valuable and the reason she had been hired. With hair that seemed a different colour every day Fury had met her, today it was vibrant red locks that she curled boredly around her finger as her almost strange, yellow irises locked onto the sheet informing her just when her IT class was and who the thirty four enrolled student in it were. Having been an expert hacker in her last job, the elusive woman most definitely was qualified for the job which only required her teaching enough for the high school level. With no one else to fill the gaps, Fury was only too happy to let her have the job... She was just teaching computers, what real harm could be done? And, she had also been glad to accept the duties of the Drama Club's supervising teacher AND the Cheerleading coach. Fury would have been crazy to let her pass, no matter how mysterious and closed off she may be. Most women were like that anyway.

The last, and clearly most nervous, of the staff in the room was also the newest addition and the youngest to boot. Desperate to find a Mathematics teacher, Fury's search had brought him to the attention of Reed Richards, currently a student at a near University though he was well ahead of his course. For his age, barely at 20, he had almost complete his degrees in various forms of astrophysics and mathematical genius. He had been the only choice, and despite his clear nerves at being back in a school environment (though Fury had a feeling that was because Reed was most likely the bullied, nerdy type during his own high school experience), all of Reeds understanding of the curriculum was flawless, he would do fine if he could get confident. However, the young barely-not-a-student teacher seemed to pale as he spotted his high class number of forty three. Only one less than the number of enrolments. Oh Lord, watch over the young genius so that he may get through the year... It wasn't like he would have been the first of the Academy's staff to have a meltdown. Speaking of which, Charles strange ability to almost eerily read minds had sprung into action as he asked slowly, noticing how Maria still held two sheets.  


Grimacing, Fury gave a mental shudder as he recalled the incident, apparently Hill remembered it to, and she clutched her hand which gave a ghost of a throb which echoed how much paperwork had needed her attention after that.

"...We've got a casual, Allfather's wife Frigga volunteered, I think she'll have the temperament to deal with a class of noise makers, she'll just consider their attempts at driving someone to insanity; 'youthful exuberance'. Besides, after news of last year got out, she's only got twenty eight kids to keep a handle on."  


Laufey had hissed audibly, in perfect time for all to deduce it was because of the name 'Allfather' being uttered in his presence. God only knew the feud behind all that, the haughty cold coach and the wise, aging political leader weren't exactly keen to pour their business forth for the world to see. And only the spiteful coach seemed bitter enough for still cursing the name of his rival. Everyone else seemed rather pleased by the idea, knowing from the general gossip of the area that Frigga Allfather was a rather pleasant woman and would be little problem to work with.

Counting around the room, Dr Selvig was the next to pose the most obvious question after seeing the number of subjects on the timetable and the number of teachers in the room. "...We're missing someone else. Who's the unreliable bloke we've got for History that can't even turn up today?"

Fury raised a brow at the assumption, actually knowing the person he'd hired for the job to be quite reliable through his contact with him in the Summer, and his latest message which had only been days prior.

"...Heimdall's his name. A little odd, but a good man. He's already had his paperwork faxed to him, and couldn't make it today since he is also in the middle of further study himself and on top of that working part time as a security guard. He's a history whizz though, I assure you, almost as if he watched every god damn thing over the last 4000 years occur with his own eyes."

Seemingly appeased by that answer, all the staff settled now as they saw Fury stand, readying themselves for his news and all the need-to-know notices. Even Logan found himself glancing up from the origami he had turned his timetable into, pausing mid fold as the Principle of SHIELD Academy addressed them.

"...We've already got the numbers and classes covered now, but I'll remind you again that some of you volunteered in the bliss of your summer holidays for some extra duties. Full-time staff as they stand, the ones who can't skip back home at the end of the day and will be boarding here, will be myself, of course, Hill, Coulson, Xavier, Logan and Richards. This means it's our job for enforcing all the dorm rules, being there if the kids need us and so on and so forth..." Fury took a breath, keeping his face stony though he felt much the same displeasure as was clear on Logan's face at having to slap kids on the wrist for breaking the rule and wiping their noses every time they got the sniffles. "...Boarding kids are gonna start pouring in late this afternoon sometime, any time after 4, I expect all our boarding staff to be here in case they need help. No exceptions."

"Laufey, you're got the Football team, obviously... Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Richards and Selvig, you've got the Science/Computer Club... Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Darkholme, Cheerleading is on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and Drama is held on Wednesday and Sunday. Charles, you've offered to start book club, we’ve got a spot for you on Friday. On the back of your lesson timetables are extra-curricular sessions organised for you, pick a spot you have free to offer tutoring if you want to give your kids that opportunity... I'll leave that up to you people to sort out. Why? Cause I'm stuck with two programs of my own this year. Supervising the School Rep Council in their meetings and the less enjoyable Troublesome Students Program in which I gotta try and put dodgy kids on the straight and narrow. So don't even think about complaining what I've asked of you..." 

Wondering what else needed to be addressed, Fury glanced at Hill a moment who slowly shook her head, unable to think of anything else either. This meant that finally they could all get the hell out of his office and enjoy their last day of freedom before the beginning of term. Settling back down in his seat again, he gave them all a dismissing nod, watching with one eye as his new staff team began to rise from their seats and inch towards the door.

"...Oh, and ladies and gentlemen..." He spoke quickly, amused as they all turned their heads and froze like deer caught in the headlights. Logan grumbled something under his breath about what kind of sadist plays around with people at 9 in the morning. Fury would have almost been ominous if not for the rare twitch of a smile he couldn't fight away from his lips.

"...Good luck. Most of you are gonna need it."


	2. Boarders on a Bus

Catching the public bus on his own with a massive heavy briefcase was the worst decision of his life, Clint decided with a wince as the bus driver shot forward unexpectedly and the case crammed in front of his legs unpleasantly rammed into him. But clearly, he wasn’t the only person to make that decision today, Oh no, lots of teens about his age sat closer to the front, shooting each other wary looks as if hoping they were all not destined to the same place. Clint scowled from his corner in the back, having figured he wasn't the only one heading to SHIELD Academy already, those kids all sitting quietly had obviously been the ones to take up all the room in the bottom of the bus. When he had the privilege of feeling his feet past the numbness of his legs, they ached pointedly as the teen thought of the long walk it had been from the circus site to even make it to the bus route... And he couldn't even be lucky enough to have enough space for his junk! 

Sighing lightly, he tried to distract himself by observing the kids closer to the front with the cover of his sunglasses able to disguise his stare. Some of them just looked rather fidgety and nervous, as if pondering why they were even welcomed to a special school, much the same mindset Clint had. Two girls were rather bright and loud, the animated and bubbly type, though one with longer, brunette hair carried an appreciated touch of dry humour in her tone which was enough for Clint not to want to scratch his ears out at their optimism. Not that his hearing was the best anyway, it was his eyes that were the gift, something that had made him a crack shot in archery and the reason he'd even been living and working at aforementioned circus anyway. And his eyes were particularly sharp at present, noticing a guy built like a tank and a girl whose smirk sent a thousand waves of bitchiness flowing through the bus, they rose to their feet and started to ghost towards where Clint was sitting at the back. Um, hello, Mr Bus Driver, aren't all passengers meant to be seated while the bus is in motion 

Thankfully, they couldn't see him staring through sunglasses, the big guy with the almost bald head except for two black tiger stripes slid into the opposite end of the backseat first, and the long haired blonde sat next to him, not even bothering to cast a green eyed glance Clint's way. The archer remained quiet, listening into their continued conversation with poker-faced curiosity. 

"...Too bad most of the bores so far aren't going to be very entertaining, you know I see no point in causing trouble unless there's someone interesting to inflict it on..." The girl sighed, staring boredly at her emerald painted nails for a few seconds before brightening considerably and even managing a smile. "...At least Thor will be there, it was incredibly frustrating enduring last year when he was already at this school, I'm glad he decided to repeat so at last we'll share some classes~" The big guy she was talking to blinked right at the same time as Clint, though certainly for different reasons, Clint was just trying to figure out where he had heard that name before... 

"...Did you tell him you're coming here, Amora?" Big-lug asked, was that really his voice? It sounded more like a series of grunts. Amora, so Barbie's name must have been, just gave a laugh which was almost chillingly evil. Oh, Clint just knew already she was going to be one of those queen bitch types. 

"...If I told him where would the fun be in that, Skurge~?" She asked with the same sadistic tone of voice a cat might have while killing a mouse if they could speak. "...I know how much he adores me and my surprises, after all~" 

All the while, Clint decided it was best to tune out and instead just think of hurrying up and getting to the Academy. If psycho-Barbie and her giant friend knew he was listening, well... He didn't particularly like the idea of facing angry baldies fist. Didn't want to have a broken nose on his first day after all. 

Meanwhile, further down the bus, a scenario of its own was beginning to unfold as a rather quiet young man shot a fleeting glance over his shoulder to the girl sitting just behind him, her red hair eye catching, but not enough of a distraction to her lovely face. He only spared a few seconds for fear of melting into a nervous puddle if she, or the tall, athletic blond guy sitting next to her with a possessive arm around her shoulder, caught him staring even if just for that moment. While they remained oblivious to his stare, the be-speckled person sitting next to Peter Parker certainly had noticed. Bruce Banner had only managed a little small talk with the youngest student to be invited to the Academy this year, but had already come to the conclusion they had remarkably similar hobbies and had picked many of the same science and maths based subjects. 

He wouldn't be the best role model, shaking his head slowly at the idea of having anyone as a friend let alone taking another under his wing, but Peter didn't seem like he wouldn't make a bad acquaintance at least. Even if he was an acquaintance silly enough to already have a crush on the girl dating Eddie Brock, who only minutes ago had been bragging about his acceptance based on being a strong part of the football team. Not that Bruce could blame Peter, Mary-Jane was pretty, but to the curly, dark haired science nerd, she simple was a girl too lacking in much behind her looks to ever be worth the risk of an angry Eddie Brock. Deciding it was best to distract the young brunet, Bruce attempted a weak excuse to draw Peter into conversation, not exactly the best social butterfly himself. At least he wasn't as bad as the 'X-Kids' (those students lucky enough to be sponsored by Professor Xavier) who sat in all together, but in silence and staring pointedly out of the bus windows. 

"...So what have you heard about the Academy?" 

Thank God that had been enough, Peter had blinked and with a smile at actually having been engaged in an unexpected conversation, he babbled on animatedly about state of the art facilities and leading statistics and quotes from the kids that had experienced the trial last year. Bruce somehow felt a sense of accomplishment that he wouldn't have to watch some poor kid get beat up before even school even started, and managed even a tiny smile of his own as he listened to the excited kid babble. But apparently Eddie had different ideas, growing bored of the bus trip and Mary-Jane's affections and hungry to pick on someone. 

"...Hah. Got yourself a new boyfriend, Parker...?" He sneered, leaning forward to listen in on the two scientific teens, Bruce supressed a sigh, though felt a familiar fiery flash of temper in the back of his mind. Oh god no, please no incident. No temper tantrum on the bus, let’s just get to the Academy in one piece- 

Luckily enough, this was the moment Wade Wilson rocketed up from his seat further towards the back and decided it was a good time to scream; "PUNCH BUGGY!" Loud enough so that the bus driver swerved into the next stop with a rather ungraceful slam of his break that sent the masked idiot body surfing down the halls. Everyone stared, perplexed, even a now distracted Eddie as the loony kid who refused to take off his mask burst into a fit of laughter. "...Oh dude! So totally worth it!!!" The girl in front of where once had been sitting watched with wary brown eyes, her long, dark hair framing her unimpressed face as Wade skittered back to his seat and promptly started trying to flirt with her again; "...C'mon Jessica, you KNOW how cool that was! And if I can ride a bus like that imagine what I can do to yo-" 

"...Wilson. Not interested. Please shut up." Jessica Drew said in a weary tone, her borderline temporarily sarcastic voice not humorous in the slightest at the moment. It was going to be a long year if she had to put up with this idiot, turning her back on him she instead began talking to the couple sitting in front of her, a girl who looked rather rebellious with white and pink hair but introduced herself pleasantly as Melissa Gold, and the blond haired guy next to her smiled brightly as he offered his hand to the name of Robbie Baldwin. Wade pouted, not that anyone could see it under his red and black trusty 'face', but proceeded to harden the hell up and join in their conversation, uninvited, anyway. 

The bus was still paused at the stop, the driver too exhausted to even yell at Wade for causing a scene, but startled enough to remember his job as a light tap sounded on the door. Quickly letting the new passengers on, and explaining the bag situation, two more students made their way with their luggage onto the bus. One was a guy that Clint found himself wondering even how he'd fitted through the door, who did not hesitate to lift his massive bag effortlessly under his arm, and take the other persons at that as he made his way to the last available seat near the front, near the 'X-Kids' who soon found out in conversation he too was a Xavier sponsored kid. The other person to get on the bus... 

All Clint could think was; 'Wow'. She was gorgeous, and that was an understatement. A face even soft with the lack of smile she wore, and eyes caught a startling shade between blue and green. Red hair curled perfectly around her face, she gave the bus driver a fair and started to walk up the aisle. She paused at first to offer a nod of thanks to the guy she had gotten on with who was happy to take care of her case, and then paused a second time to exchange a few words with the blind kid, Matt was his name Clint recalled, hallway up the bus who seemed to laugh at the greeting Clint was too deaf to hear. But this girl kept walking past these people she clearly knew, wandering all the way up to the back before Clint had realised where she was going. And then she was sitting next to him on the back seat, not even sparing a thought for Evil-Barbie and Meat-head across the other side of the seat. She didn't bother to greet him, nor even glance in Clint's direction as she instead stared ahead. Compelled by unknown forces, he was the first to open his mouth, not even sure of what the hell he was saying. 

"...Who's your friend...?" Yes, real smooth Clint, ask about the guy who could have been her boyfriend for all you knew. Blinking, the girl shifted her guarded eyes to observe the archer as if she could see right through his glasses, which until now had proven as his safety net to stop people knowing when he was watching them. 

"...Who wants to know?" She answered smoothly, voice all calm business though a smile quirked on the corners of her lips. God, she made that such an effortlessly alluring expression. 

"...Uh..." Stop it, can't afford to be brain dead now. Clearing his throat, the former loner of the bus managed to laugh of his awkward pause though it sounded rather weak in his own ears. "...Clint. Clint Barton. Nice to meet you...?" 

"...My friend is Piotr Rasputin, the Russian exchange student, I promised Principle Fury I'd take care of him." She answered his first question rather trickily, not giving room for her own name, but then again Clint had been stupid enough not to ask it. But, there was good news in what she did say, hell yes! They'd be at the same school and that guy wasn't her boyfriend after all! 

"...Oh." He mused lamely, trying to think how to figure out her name without sounding creepy. "...And, ah... What's your story...?" The girl paused as if having to comprehend for a long moment, a tease in her voice as she spoke again and yet again dodged giving him her name. 

"...I might have to kill you if I told you that much." 

Damn. He was going to have to ask her straight, so much for playing it cool. "...Can you at least tell me your name?" 

Pausing again, as if even that took a long ounce of thought, eventually she crumbled, indeed finding no harm in telling him that. 

"...Natasha. Natasha Romanov..." She mused in an identical to how Clint had told her his name, the archer found himself oddly content despite the case digging into his legs, he had been about to ask how she had gotten into SHIELD when- 

"...TASH!" Wade had called, as if only just snapping out of whatever insanity bumbled around in his head to actually notice someone he knew was on the bus. Rapidly he waved to her, like a hyper active man-child, and Natasha gave him a light wave back, her face unreadable which was worrying in itself. Was it possible she actually liked that freak...? That nearly might have been a deal breaker, if not for the fact she turned back her head and gave Clint a stomach somersaulting inducing wink as she noted with a hushed tone. 

"...Well that's one person I wasn't hoping on seeing today..." 

Back down towards the front of the bus, another had heard Peter and Bruce's conversation of molecular studies and turned around with a clear vibe of uncertain awkwardness that classed him as one of their fellow nerdy kind as he offer them a hint of a smile. 

"...I-... My name's Hank Pym, mind if I chat with you...? I was happy talking to Jan but she seems..." He paused a moment, glancing to the bubbly girl with short red hair next to him who was absorbed in her animated conversation with her 'new best friend for life' that she had only met today sitting across, the dryly witty girl who was making their bright conversation bearable by her humour. "...I'm fairly sure your conversation will be much more fascinating to me." 

Jan had heard him this time, turning her head to poke out her tongue at him as she gave him a light elbow in the ribs. "...Just because I don't speak science! Fine, I'll just keep chatting to Darcy, we were just talking about styling trends anyway and are already planning our first weekend shopping trip. If we're so boring, you can spend that weekend playing with robots all you like~" Though her tone was scolding it was also teasing and bright, there was clearly some form of adoration that made it clear to Bruce and Peter that there was something going on between them. Lucky guy, managed to get a girlfriend as well as having a brain. Darcy, the other girl, managed to give a fingered wave reminiscent of a jazz hand to Peter and Bruce's direction who could only nod back lightly almost in synchronization. Both clearly were not good with girls, Peter for his sheer shyness and awkwardness, Bruce more for his lack of ever meeting a girl he really liked. Darcy found their lack of social skills endearing though, people were always rather fascinating in all their different habitual processes, and it was a reason Darcy loved all of her humanities subjects. 

Sitting next to Darcy was another girl, rather quiet but with straight backed posture that had to make her some sort of boarding school girl, it was just something you didn't see in people these days. Everyone once and a while she managed to pipe up in between Darcy and Jan's 'Omg' moments and blabbering about shopping, but at the moment Peggy Carter was rather finding herself hoping the whole of her SHIELD Academy experience wouldn't quite be like this bus trip. She hadn't come all the way from England, away from her family and her rather expensive old boarding school, just to end up at another with only half the... class, to put it simply. 

The X-Kids meanwhile, were actually appearing to start to make conversation, if only with each other at the encouragement of a dark skinned, white haired young woman. Storm, as was her lingering nickname, had decided that she was going to start them all talking to save a trip full of nothing but tense silence and feeling like they'd spent the whole bus trip alone. In the face of her leadership, the rather beautiful brooding red head Jean Grey and the guy who was sitting next to her with a pair of red-lensed glasses, Scott Summers, started to introduce themselves, though not particularly animatedly. Kitty Pride was next, rather bright in the break of her too long silence, clearly a rather bubbly person after the initial awkwardness. The girl sitting next to her, almost pressed up right against the wall, mumbled her name as being 'Rogue', looking as if being on a crowded bus was her least favourite place in the world. The only remaining apparent X-Kid remained silent, John Allerdyce (or Pyro as he was rather happy to be known) merely stared out the window with narrowed brown eyes, flicking a blond gel-spiked lock out of his eyes before returning his hand to his pocket where it fiddled with his prized lighter, wondering to himself how great it would feel to blow up this bus full of noisy, annoying people before they even made it to the prison that was boarding school.


	3. Settling In

Arriving at long last, the bus creaked to a stop outside of the rather impressive drive in bay of the Academy, the buildings all clean cut sandstone and the grass lawns all fresh and green after being well kept over the long Summer months. Students with more easily captured attention spans, like Kitty and Jan, stared in awe as they stumbled off the bus with numb legs and went to grab their gear. Piotr, or Colossus as he was affectionately dubbed the nickname by Storm already after their introductions in the trip, carried out his own and Natasha's bag, and even Clint's when the mysterious girl had asked him to. After that, he also assisted the bus driver in unpacking their gear, clearly defying the classic stereotype of big guys with tiny hearts such as Eddie and Skurge who merely stood back with folded arms and watched and waited. Bruce, Peter and Hank's attention had snapped almost instantly onto something else entirely, the small group of adults who walked out from the main building labelled with 'admin'.

Principle Fury lead the group of his five on-campus teachers who seemed in much better spirits now it was later in the day. Well, most of them. Logan was still scowling about the fact Fury had told him only moments ago he couldn't smoke on campus. And of course the fact the boarding kids were here now. All the kids shuffled away from the bus to pause in front of the teachers, none approaching alone as they shot a weary glance to the serious dark skinned Fury who sat at the front, not overly smiling or friendly, and very demanding in presence. As the bus pulled away, two cars pulled up in almost perfect time. The first was not particularly flashy, but the girl who hopped out of it was almost intimidatingly tall, with black hair that fell past her shoulders and rather bright green eyes. She quickly retrieved her case from the boot and waved goodbye to her mother who had dropped her off. As she neared, Bruce offered a small wave to his cousin, Jennifer Walters, and giving him a smile she came to pause beside him and face the group. 

Now the second car was impressive, a limo at that with Stark Industries on the side. Everyone knew better than to think an actual Stark would be arriving today, why would the young, infamous Tony Stark bother boarding when he was one of the richest kids around? Out of the limo instead hopped Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, a long-time friend of Tony's who he was only too happy to let his driver drop off in smile. 'Happy', as his driver was nicknamed, even jumped out to help Pepper with her case as she offered him her thanks for the lift. Wandering over, she was either ignorant to or pointedly ignoring the envious look Amora was shooting her way, since the less than friendly blonde was resentful over having to catch the bus when a commoner like the sharply dressed, but clearly not made of money Pepper had been allowed to arrive in such style, courtesy of Tony. 

Counting all the currently assembled kids, Fury counted twenty five, one less than the number of reserved dorm placements. Maria had clearly noticed to, but confirmed what Fury had already assumed with a murmur under her breath. "...Rogers will be here on Tuesday, he has his last medical appointment tomorrow and Howard insisted on being sure the treatments were still going perfectly before he'd let him go to school in this daunting place." 

With that, all were in order and accounted for, Fury raised his attention to the students, trying to put on a friendly expression though it looked about as fitting as a smile on a crocodile. "...Welcome to SHIELD Academy, the people around you are only our dorming kids for this year, a little over half of our registered student body for this year. Look around you closely, kids, these people will be your roommates until next summer. You will be seeing them 24/7 so you better learn how to get along or else we will have some problems." Making a pointed gesture to himself on 'we', Fury took a pause before managing to introduce himself. "...I am your Principle, Nick Fury. No, you cannot call me Nick, but yes you may just call me Fury... If you have earned that privilege. Anyone wants to cause trouble at my school and I expect the whole title." 

Pausing, he waved forward Maria and Phil, introducing them each with the point of a finger starting with the former. "...This lady here is my eyes, ears and right hand of this place. You have a problem with timetabling or need anything printed out? Maria Hill is the person to find. She's on campus all hours day and night and usually spends them in the reception block behind us unless she is sleeping. Give her trouble or cheek and you'll have me to answer to. If Maria is my right hand, Phil Coulson is my left. That will be Mr Coulson to you unless he says otherwise, since he is your homeroom teacher, but he's also the go to guy if you've got any problems being the school councillor and all. Treat him well and he'll have no problems with doing the same to you." 

Deciding to get Logan's short and sweet intro out of the way, Fury pointed in the scowling Art teacher's direction, most of the students staring at him now as if he was a misfit who'd broken into the school rather than one of their supervising instructors. "...This is your Art Teacher, Mr Logan. I suggest you do not give him a hard time because boy, with all the withdrawals he'll be having this year from being unable to keep his habits on campus, he will probably tear you a new one if you dare it." Pausing, Fury's single eye met Logan, who seemed almost amused for the first time this day by the accuracy of the other's prediction. The kids all seemed clearly boggled that Fury was actually being serious, so he decided to make a valid point of reminding them of an important rule now the opportunity had arisen. "...That's right kiddies, even staff can't smoke or drink on the grounds, so I wouldn't even like to think about the consequences if we caught any of you underage minors doing it, hmn?" 

The students as a majority still seemed intent on quietly listening, though some were having their difficulties, Wade was fidgeting and almost exploding in his stance from keeping quiet for the longest he had ever been in his life. And Eddie, Skurge, Amora and Pyro had all started sniggering something about 'is this guy for real?' up the back of the group. Fury ignored them, for now, he'd be keeping his good eye on them for sure if their first impression already offered so little to be enjoyed. 

Reed was next, no matter how nervous he looked to be standing out front of all these kids and even seemed to jump as Fury mentioned his name. "...This guys here is going to be your Maths teacher. Young, I know, but brilliant. Got a mind that could run Vegas a thousand times if they ever figured out how to channel brain energy. This guy will be the one to do it though, Mr Richards to you kids, unless of course he tells you otherwise. Think you can walk over him as an inexperienced teacher? Think again, I'll be checking in. Frequently. And teaching the kids who give him any trouble just why sometimes it is nice to have a new teacher who hasn't learned the most efficient ways of punishing you yet." 

And now to the last, but definitely not least for half of these boarding kids... "And finally I have the pleasure of introducing you to Charles Xavier, Professor Xavier to all you kids at least while you're in his class." Charles, sitting straight and smiling in his wheel-chair, offered the kids a wave, noticing the faces of the kids he had sought out himself to invite the Academy and their rather bright smiles at seeing him again. Well, most of them. Pyro, or John as he knew him, was still preoccupied sniggering up the back of the group about Fury's 'sassy' attitude. Fury continued the introduction regardless, having no time to waste yelling at those idiots when it wasn't even the start of the year. "...I know many of you owe your thanks to him for getting into this school, so do your best to make him proud and not regret inviting you here. If you've chosen to take Biology, you'll be lucky to have him as a teacher, if not I still advise you get to know him as a caring member of the staff that would do his best for you kids." 

Pausing, Fury tried to think of the next order of business, only to be reminded by catching Maria subtly tapping a copy of a campus map in her paperwork ridden arms for him to catch out of the corner of his good eye. 

"...Now, we aren't giving any tours or the likes, we figure you're all intelligent enough to figure out a map and read the well labelled buildings or at least ask a teacher if you can't get it then... Showing you around would be unfair to the kids who make it here tomorrow as non-boarders. You'll find a map among other greetings in your dorms, and we'll take you and show you around there, but the rest of the school is as much of an adventure for you as the rest of the kids." So leaving it all there for now, Fury relaxed his formal stance and started to walk away from the front of the admin slowly, waving for all the students to follow as the teachers too instructed. Well, Charles and Coulson instructed, the rest were either too uncaring (Logan), or too nervous (Reed) to really be efficient at giving instructions yet. 

The dorm space consisted of a large three story sandstone building to the immediate left hand side of the small admin block. Fury informed them as they walked his office space was also located near the admin block and could be accessed by entering it, should any ever be called there. Only a small tiled path which lead further into the school filled the space between, as well as slight space either side of the path for green, healthy gardens to keep that 'environmentally friendly' feel amongst all the looming, but beautiful, man imposed buildings. Leading the group inside, teachers and students alike, Fury paused at the foot of a large set of stairs which lead to the next floor. They were in the exact centre of the whole width of the floor, and pointing at first to the right of the gathered group, a set of dorms stood out all labelled with names and photos. 

"...This is where on campus staff call home. Strategically placed on the first floor so we will hear you if you try to sneak down the stairs and leave the grounds in the middle of the night without permission. My room is the closest, Coulson and Xavier's are the other two you can see, and around the corner are Logan, Richards and Maria's." Fury paused, pointing to a room labelled 'staff bathroom'. "...That room is exactly what it says. Keep out of there and we'll keep out of yours, everything will flow smoothly. If not, student plumbing may accidentally break and I may forget about repairing it for a while and you can walk all the way to the PE locker rooms across campus for your showers and... Other matters." Pointing now in the general opposite direction, to the left of the stairs they lingered at, Fury pointed to a large kitchen space. "...That is the shared kitchen. Feel free to use it as long as you clean up after yourself. If there is any particular food you desire, write it on the shopping list before Sunday, the shopping night, and if it is a reasonable request Hill will only be too happy to get it, free of charge. We're not your slaves while you're here, so you'll have to learn how to either make your own breakfast and dinner, since the cafeteria only covers lunch unless there are special events, or you'll have to make friends with someone nice enough who won't mind cooking for you too." 

Pointing now over to the opposite corner of the left side of the bottom floor, the one closest to the entrance, Fury pointed out another fun area. "...That is the very common lounge room. I will not be held responsible for fights over the remote. The boys and girls floor also have a smaller rec room on each, and I'm sure between the three TV's you'll find something on that's bearable to watch." Closer to where they all stood, there was one more place of interest, books, desks and computers giving away what its intended purpose was to be. "...This is a study space. Again, there are another two smaller ones on each of the other floors. All material may be taken anywhere within this building, so you can study in your room if that's where you are most comfortable." A small facture of laughter echoed through a few of the students, as if study was the last thing on their mind when the school year technically hadn't even begun. 

Waving Maria forward, Fury had decided he had given enough warning so far, all the paperwork she had sorted out and deposited to their dorms would be enough for all he hadn't covered today. And he just wanted this all over so he could go grab a cup of coffee and enjoy what was left of the peace before these munchkins started messing up the joint. Glancing at the names on her list, she began to call each forward, one at a time to receive their keys and their dorm contracts to be handed in anytime this week before Friday. 

"...John Allerdyce." 

The blond pyromaniac from the bus scowled as his real name was used, but skulked forward with a ducked head to take his things and get back to his newfound sniggering 'friends'. 

"...Skurge Axeman." 

Another of the sniggerer’s, Clint recognised him briefly as tiger-stripe buff head who had been sitting opposite him on the back seat. He lumbered up and took his paperwork without so much as a smile or a thank you. Geez, what a great rep they were giving the student body already. 

"...Robbie Baldwin." 

A blond kid stepped forward after freeing his hand from the girl beside him with white hair and pink streaks. Smiling, he at least knew how to thank Hill as he took his stuff before slipping back into the crowd. 

"...Bruce Banner." 

The dark, curly haired 'acquaintance' of Peter's stepped forward after pushing up his glasses and mumbled a subdued thanks to Hill. 

"...Clinton Barton." 

Clint nearly groaned, they had even used his full first name! He'd have to get that fixed... Frowning as he stepped forward and collected the paperwork and key, he managed a curt nod and simple 'thanks', thinking manners couldn't kill him even if their misuse of his name could possibly embarrass him to death. 

"...Edward Brock." 

Eddie hissed for much the same reason Clint had just sulked, but reacted very differently as he stalked up and snatched his stuff from Maria and stormed back to his now positively cackling 'friends'. 

"...Margret Carter." 

The quiet, polite English girl (better know by her nickname, Peggy) stepped forward, smiling brilliantly as she took her things with an eloquent 'thank you', thinking it was the least Hill deserved for her hard work and having to put up with the insensitivity of the former twats. 

"...Jessica Drew." 

The dark haired girl from the bus who had been trying to consistently avoid Wade's advanced wandered up, nodding but remaining silent, always being one wary of authority figures even if they were helping her out. 

"...Amora Enchant." 

Evil-Barbie sauntered up from the crowd then, swaying her hips as if she was on a catwalk rather than simply taking a piece of paper and dorm key. She too had no apparent desire to thank Hill as she walked away, must've been something in the water with that snigger-section. 

"...Melissa Gold." 

Now was the turn for the girl who had been standing beside Bobbie, her two toned hair and semi-cool attitude no indicator that she was rude, instead being one of the surprising few to thank Hill. 

"...Jean Grey." 

Now for the red-head who always looked like something was happening inside her mind that took up most of her attention, she did mutter a thank you, but her heart wasn't really in it, too preoccupied flickering a dark green eyed glance of interest towards Mr Logan before she drew back into the crowd. 

"...Darcy Lewis." 

Jan's new 'BFFL' wandered up in a casual, friendly manner, no need to skimp on the manners since she was not afraid of being a people person. It was never wise to step on the toes of people who somewhat served you. 

"...Anna Marie." 

At first, there was no movement, but then the girl lingering to the edge of the crowd who had introduced herself as 'Rogue' wandered up and took her things with deliberate care, as if not wanting to touch Hill as she mumbled not a thank you, but a simple; "...Please call me Rogue." 

"...Ororo Munroe." 

Though the dark skinned and white haired student who wandered forward had only told others her nickname of 'Storm', she didn't react as badly as Rogue at being called by her real name. She was all smiles and thank you's as she took the document and key from Maria, clearly none too bothered by her real name. 

"...Matthew Murdock." 

Matt would rather they had just shortened his first name, but it was bound to happen. Hanging on the edge of the crowd for obvious reasons, he had no problem finding Maria with the use of his cane to avoid hazards and by following her distinct voice. His hands closed easily around the parchment and the key in a way that probably marvelled a lot of the students with how easily he could handle being blind. For just that moment he wished he could've seen their faces, it would have been priceless! 

"...Peter Parker." 

As Peter made to move forward, Eddie coughed something rather nasty under his breath about the new youngster of the school, but he pretended not to let it bother him as he retrieved his things with a shy, but genuine thank you and wandered back to stand behind Bruce and far, far away from Eddie. 

"...Virginia Potts." 

Although she had grown used to the nickname 'Pepper' that Tony had given her for the way freckles peppered her nose, the girl who had arrived stylishly in the limo today did not whine that they had used her real name in the slightest. She gave a professional thank you that Maria found refreshing, from one young woman meaning business to another. 

"...Kitty Pride." 

Having zoned out for a moment, they had to say Kitty's name twice before it sunk in rather than going straight through her head. But the bubbly and friendliest of the X-Kid's made it up eventually, bumbling an apology before she also thanked Hill for her things and escaped back to the crowd red-faced. 

"...Hank Pym." 

This was the guy that had joined in Bruce and Peter's scientific conversations on the bus, leaving the side of his girlfriend to wander up and take his things with a simple but effective 'thanks', before darting back down and ducking his blond head, not liking all the attention. 

"...Piotr Rasputin." 

Here was Natasha's massive charge, the Russian exchange kid guy who not even the infamous back corner sniggerer's dared make a jib at as he walked up and took his things with a small smile and a thick accented 'thank you' to Maria. 

There was an unexpected pause now as Maria blinked and glanced to a page and a key before shuffling it to the back, finding the boarding student who wouldn't be here until Tuesday. The kids who noticed or cared looked at each other a moment as if trying to think of if anyone they knew should have been here. 

"...Natasha Romanov." 

It was miss mystery herself, wandering up with a bowed head and composed expression. Professional and sleek as she thanked Hill, took her things carefully, and departed the front with nothing but easy grace. 

"...Scott Summers." 

The kid who refused to take off his sunglasses, even when indoors, wandered up with a flat lipped expression, nodding his silent thank you as he took his things and wandered back to Jean's side as quick as he could. 

"...Jan van Dyne." 

Here was Pym's girlfriend, so keen to get up that she stumbled and nearly fell if not for managing to catch herself at the last minute. The back corner burst into laughter and Jan took her things, red faced and subdued, before temper was enough that she gave the Sniggerer's the finger before she joined Hank's side once more. She had a sting in her yet, that girl. 

"...Jennifer Walters." 

This was Banner's tall, sleek cousin. She toward over all but the brick-like forms of Skurge and Piotr. Even Eddie was shorter than her, so most of the snickering back corner didn't dare to make a peep as Jen wandered up and took her stuff. 

"...Mary-Jane Watson." 

Peter couldn't help but sneak a peek as the gorgeous red-head from the bus ghosted to the front gracefully and gave a gentle smile and thanks to Hill. How a girl like her was with a jerk like Eddie... It really felt like there wasn't any justice in the world sometimes. 

"...Wade Wilson." 

"ABOUT TIME!" He burst out as he rushed forward, bouncing on god knows what energy as he took his things from Hill with a 'thanks, toots.' The masked maniac regarded his key with mild interest before laughing lightly to himself and hopping back into the crowd, most kids watching him like he was raving mad. To tell the truth, he'd actually done rather well to keep quiet for so long... But few knew him well enough to recognise as such. 

He was the last, now all of the dorm dwellers had their things except for the one who was yet to arrive. Fury gave them all a dismissing wave and a few more words before he set them free, just to make sure they knew what was going on. 

"...Most of you are sharing a room. Girls on top floor because we trust them being up that high with balconies, and the boys on second so we can hear whatever trouble is going on above us. The rooms are labelled as with the number on your key. For example; 'B5' means second floor, fifth room. 'C2' is third floor, second room. Now get going. And don't lose your keys! You get no replacement if it's gone, so you better pray you get along with your roommate if that be the case so you can still get inside!" 

Darcy and Jan were the first two to figure out who their roommates were, a squeal of triumph ringing from the pair which made everyone jump as they compared their identical keys, dorm numbers and all. "C3!" They cried in a unison explanation. Hank shook his head slowly as he watched his girlfriend and her new friend, still not understanding in any way of how girls’ minds worked despite the fact he was one of the few intelligent guys who managed to get a girl to like them. 

Pausing only so that she could give him a quick kiss on the cheek, Jan ran up the stairs with Darcy eager to get up to the top floor and check out their room. Most others weren't as animated or excited enough to figure out who they were with to actively find out as they wandered up the stairs, instead waiting until they got there. On the way, Rogue and Jean blinked as they noticed their keys matched, and the numbers, but both seemed rather pleased about that arrangement. At least it was no one loud, rather the two girls that liked their personal space and knew as such how to respect those boundaries. 

Refusing the help he was offered to get up stairs, Matt soon made it clear much to the others amazement a blind teenager could get up the stairs with his baggage just as fast as them. The brail pattern courteously put on his key indicated he was in 'B1', and feeling along the wall directly in front of the top of the first level of stairs, he read the directions that lead him to the left and eventually the group of three rooms where his was located. 'B1' was the lone one, across from the two side-by-side dorms in the same section of this floor. Slipping inside, he was glad for some peace and quiet, and even gladder when his fingers scanned the brail printed contract and he discovered he had the room to himself and didn't have to worry about making another student awkward or go out of their way to 'help' him when he was perfectly independent. Dropping his case to the floor and setting his cane to rest in a lean on his desk, Matt flopped into the comfortable bed before frowning and realising it was the unmade one of the two that existed in the room. Damn. 

Hank, Scott, Pyro and Piotr had all wandered in the same direction as Matt, the four clearly split between the two remaining rooms. Eyeing the rather stoic Scott and hostile John warily, you can imagine Hank's relief when both himself and Piotr seemed assigned to 'B2'. Though the Russian was intimidating and massive, at least he had proven himself as kind and pleasant if only a little untalkative. Hank could handle that any day. As they went inside with their gear, talking about who wanted what bed, Scott and Pyro eyed each other off as if testing who was the most dominant in this little arrangement. No words were spoken, but eventually both relaxed their stances as if agreeing to not try anything today. Still never introducing each other once, Scott wandered into 'B3' first and then the Pyro followed, flicking the light in his pocket in habit as he dragged his case behind him. 

The remaining six boys had turned right of the stair case, where the other set of four dorms rested just past an archway. A small hallway separated two on either side, or dragging themselves and the cases along the arrangements were eventually discovered. Peter found himself thanking every power that be that he had the room 'B7' to himself, especially since he had warily been regarding Eddie from the corner of his eye as they had walked in the same direction. But then with a moment of worry, he realised while he was safe from the malicious blond who was in the dorm next to his, Bruce who had been good to him on the bus was instead stuck with him. Eddie smirked as he realised this too and wandered confidently into the room, Bruce gave Peter one withered look as he too entered 'B5' and the brown eyed brunet found himself wondering if he would ever see his friend again. 

Clint too, to his relief, was alone as he entered his small room 'B6', stifling a laugh as he noticed his neighbours in 'B4' were meat-head tiger stripes Skurge and the nutcase Wade. He might never get a good night's sleep in this year, but at least things always were bound to be entertaining. He would put his money on Wade being the one to walk out of this alive, seeing the extreme irritation on Skurge's face as he was practically pulled inside by a sing-song Wade rambling on about how they were going to be 'best friends~'. Being a loner himself, Clint didn't mind not having a roommate, but he froze in surprise as he noticed there wasn't just one bed made, as Peter said was the case in his solo room, but the other was ready-made too. Maps and notes sat on both beds, and named greeting notes. 

Unable to contain his curiosity, Clint dumped his bag on the floor before wandering over and checking not his own, but the other bed, coming to conclusion that this might of been the kid who they had skipped over in name call... 

Great, he had a name, and judging by the two spare uniforms in the cupboard, he had a general size for the kid too; clearly an athlete. Wonderful. 

Now if only he could put a face to a name... He might have a chance at deciding whether this roomy-ship was going to be the bane of his existence or not for the whole year. Flopping down into the small couch in one of the corners of the fairly spacious room, Clint frowned as he pondered over all. He hated not knowing things like this. 

Just who the hell was Steven Rogers meant to be? 

Meanwhile, the girls had no such luxury of rooms to themselves with all seven of the dorms taken and filled by the fourteen girls who had managed to secure boarding rooms. The layout of their third floor was much more open planned when compared to that of the boys. The bedrooms, like downstairs, were split in three and four either side of the staircase, but the lot of three all ran in a single line while the lot of four, they curved around each other and created a rather cool winding hallway. Darcy and Jan had already made it into 'C3' and were bouncing on their beds in excitement as the other girls started to split off into their rooms. To the right of the staircase in the same block as the bubbly duo in 'C3'; Kitty, Natasha, Mary-Jane and Peggy all began to wander over with their cases. 'C1' became home to Peggy and Kitty, the later a little nervous by the other slightly stuffy attitude, and she made a note to herself to try and contain her bubbly excitement. That left Natasha and Mary-Jane to 'C2', the two red head's seemingly apathetic to each other and content to settle on co-existing in roommate vicinity that need no any immediate gestures of 'friendliness'. 

As discovered on the stairs, Jean and Rogue made their way to the shared room of 'C6' without much need for words. It was clear both were rather reserved but relieved by the idea of having a peaceful time with roommates. Rogue made herself comfortable in her corner bed quietly while Jean contented herself with starting to unpack. Storm and Pepper were in the room next door, 'C7', and started to introduce themselves, only too happy to be social and try and start things out on a good note as they entered their room, finding the company quite enjoyable already. At least they both seemed rather serious about having earned a chance to be invited to this school. Melissa and Jessica even managed a pleased smile to each other as they discovered they would be sharing, already acquainted from the bus and glad they weren't stuck with someone their rebellious attitude wouldn't rub up the wrong way. They wandered into 'C5' leaving Jennifer to sigh as she realised just who was left and her to share 'C4' with for the whole year... 

Amora too frowned at the way the arrangements had worked, though also she supposed she wouldn't have been particularly happy with anyone being her roommate. The only good she could see in their room was that it was the closest to the bathroom... At least she would always manage to get a shower in the morning that way. What was unfortunate about it all was that Jen probably was one of the girls she wouldn't be able to stand over. Damn. Entering the room without even talking to her tall, dark haired roommate, Amora stalked over to her bed and started to unpack her gear with deliberate care. Meanwhile, Jen had dragged her bag over to the foot of her bed and focussed her attention first on the paper work at hand. 

First was a document headed with 'DORMATORY RULES', listing clearly what was expected from logging students. 

1\. Boys must stay out of girls rooms and vice versa. You may dwell in the shared study space or chill out area of every floor, but entry to rooms of the opposite sex is prohibited. 

2\. The pool on ground level may only be used between the hours of 10am-6pm. Non-lodging students may be invited to use it as well. 

3\. Only in sickness are you allowed to stay in the dorms while school hours are in session. Lunch break and free periods/distance Ed lessons are an exception to this rule. 

4\. We are not your maids. You will have to clean up after yourselves in the dorms. Detentions may be offered for those who refuse. 

5\. Curfew is 9pm on school nights and 12am on weekends. We will know if you try to break this. If you are planning not to return, please inform Principle Fury of where you intend to lodge overnight so that you avoid punishment. We just want to know so that we know you are safe. 

6\. Only six people aloud in each dorm at any one time, for noise reasons. 

7\. You break it, you buy it. Applies for all computers/books/appliances/furniture within the dorm building. 

8\. 10 minute showers maximum. Water will switch to cold after this time limit. 

9\. No jumping from the balconies. This one seems obvious, but I've seen some idiots in my time. 

10\. If you need to use the Academy's landline phone, head to the admin building and Maria will decide if your cause is reasonable. 

11\. No drugs or alcohol on campus. Severe punishments will incur if caught. 

12\. Only disturb the staff past the hour of 10pm in case of emergency or if you are really desperately need our assistance. A broken thumb drive is not a plausible excuse, a personal crisis is. It is never too early in the morning if you feel legitimately upset. 

Maybe this school wasn't so unorthodox after all, Jen thought with a smile touching her lips as she read the last line. The teachers... So far seemed reasonable enough. Principle Fury as rough as he pretended to be did genuinely care about making this place work. And to do that, happy students had to be a part of that equation somewhere. 

Glancing over to Amora, who had just discovered her gifted set of uniforms and had brought out a sewing kit to tailor the skirt to a shorter length, her rule-reading roommate decided maybe she'd been placed with her for a very deliberate reason after all. Jen was probably the only one Amora wouldn't be game enough to try and torment, being the tallest girl in the school and all... 

Maybe these teachers at SHIELD Academy knew just what they were doing after all. 

This school year had a bit of hope to it yet.


	4. An End To Summer

The alarm clock (modified and tinkered with beyond recognition) was definitely not Anthony Edward Stark’s friend. Tony, as he preferred to be called instead of that hoity-toity mouthful, had found his disagreement with the pesky device a thorough enough reason to cease its ringing at least an hour ago and go back to contently snoring away his morning, just as he had done the whole of summer. Really, it wasn’t that bad, he was much more active at night anyway, tapping away at some sort of programming software or tinkering with various mechanics in his gorgeous, luxurious home. The sparkling expensive toaster that cost more than some people earned in a week had been under his attention last night, and Tony was confident when he finally did wake and have breakfast (more likely at the time of lunch), his toast would cook at least forty percent faster. Well, it would if he ate toast. Normally a coffee and a granola bar was all anyone could get him to force down, no matter the time of the day.

Pleasantly unaware it was the first day of what was meant to be the beginning of term, the young rich genius was content, his mind whirling on a secret engineering project even in his sleep. Too bad people had other ideas with what he should be doing. Pepper Pott’s was one such person, and his family’s robotic butler (which Tony helped designed and build, he would pridefully tell everyone that would listen) also had similar ideas to his sometimes pushy, but always best meaning friend. Even his driver Happy had been in on the plan, he would find out later, having picked Pepper up from campus where she boarded just so she could drag Tony out of bed with a variety of dirty tactics.

The promise of coffee came first, freshly made by Jarvis in the kitchen. It had almost been enough for Tony to open his eyes.  
And then she stole the blanket, and that was that, Tony was crawling towards the kitchen rather ungracefully, blinking blinding morning light out of his eyes, their brown hues having not dealt with the stuff for two solid months.

“…And Jarvis really just let you in? You could have been a robber, he’s gonna need some work. And you know the rents hate visitors in the morning…”

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony’s protests, he could never be quietly beaten, too used to having the last say.

“Technically Jarvis only let Happy and the limo in the front gates, I was just a passenger. And don’t be silly. Your father has always worked early on Monday’s, and your mom has an early yoga class.”

“…You know my family’s schedule…? Okay Pep, hate to break it to you, but that’s bordering on stalkerish… You sure you’re not the one who ran the Tony Stark fan club in elementary school?”

Pepper only laughed, pushing a plate of cooked eggs over the counter to the genius who stared at them as if she was asking him to eat a plate of babies, which was kinda true, chicken babies and all that-

“…Don’t be silly, Tony. We all know you were the president of that club… Now hurry up or you’ll be late for school, Jarvis is ironing your uniform…” 

Chewing glumly on a surprisingly tasty bite of egg, probably because it wasn’t just leftovers his mother made him and left to reheat while she was out living the life of a socialite all day, Tony made a face.

“…Please Pepper, don’t remind me. I always thought Monday’s couldn’t get any worse. Obviously I forgot about what it was like to go back to school.” 

Pepper gave him a long look, like he was being a drama queen, as usual.

“Hey, cheer up! Up least we’re both at the same school this year… SHIELD sounds so exciting!”

But all that did was make Tony grimace into his coffee cup, remembering the verbal battles all through the summer of his father trying to sabotage Tony’s application to SHIELD and send him to a special technological boarding school. Like hell Tony was going to make it that easy on his dad, accepting the offer at SHIELD in a heartbeat and getting his mom’s signature on the paperwork by telling her it was the credit card bill. Not like she’d looked out of a mirror long enough to read it.

“…Yeah, exciting.”

Stupid really, that in the end, the only reason Tony was going to this school, with people who would bore him and subjects that wouldn’t challenge him, was all to spite his old man Howie.

He paused, setting his now empty coffee cup down, watching Pepper excitement as she rambled on about finally having a chance at a brilliant school, and how amazing it looked from what she had explored yesterday.

And of course, maybe just a teeny tiny bit, Tony Stark’s oldest friend, no matter how much she nagged him, might have been part of the reason he had pushed his way into SHIELD too.

Just a teeny tiny bit that no one would ever realise, including Tony Stark himself.

\---

Where yesterday arriving at SHIELD Pepper had been all ‘ooohs!’ and ‘ahhhhss!’, Happy noted that Tony couldn’t give the school even a pretend interested glance, too busy ruffling up the carefully ironed uniform, undoing the navy blue blazers buttons to leave it free, and loosening his dark grey tie quite substantially.

“…Blue never was my colour.” The young genius muttered before getting a look from Pepper that was enough to shut him up, but it wasn’t like she had any reason to complain. At least the girls had this neat check pattern on their skirts- Aha, no. Check was never neat. Another reason for him to hate this school already, that the uniforms alone could make the girls turn into eyesores.

“…Blue looks fine. Just because the ties aren’t gold coated, the shoes aren’t hot rod red and you can’t wear your ACDC t-shirt underneath doesn’t mean the uniforms look bad.” Pepper nagged him, not noticing the grin on Tony’s lips as he actually rarely listened to her.

If only his favourite ginger knew his favourite shirt was in place, just underneath the button up white regulatory boring uniform shirt. Probably not the smartest idea in summer, but it wasn’t about being smart, it was about sticking it to the rules.

“Yeah yeah, whatever Pep.”

It turned out, with the help of Pepper, Tony had actually been surprisingly on time for his first day. Other cars were pulling in both to the drop off bay and student parking. He saw what must have been a teacher struggling with a bunch of papers and a too-full briefcase as he got out of his vehicle and didn’t pity the guy for long, trying to suss out what he thought of the short, petite brunette girl with a mole on her cheek who jumped out of the same car, in SHIELD uniform, and rushed over to help him.

Jane Foster was used to this, helping her father’s old friend and now guardian, Dr Eric Selvig, all through the summer with his research in practical scientific astrophysics trials. Lots of measuring, lots of paper, and not enough arms between them. She smiled as she reached for the papers hanging precariously from Selvig’s arms and he gave a grateful nod. She really was such a good kid-

“JANE!” Darcy squealed as she tackle hugged her friend, paper work miraculously not scattering about as the startled shorter brunette found herself reunited with her friend of several years. “Can’t believe you took so long to get here, I thought teachers were meant to be early!” The taller, fuller girl noted, giving Selvig what was meant to be a stern look before she quickly and animatedly told her friend all that had happened yesterday and about her new friend Jan-

It was by this stage Tony had glanced elsewhere out of the limo windows, away from the pair (Oh he wished they had come as a pair, probably would balance each other out-), when through his dark sunglasses and the heavy tint he spotted another limo, and a girl who must’ve been a Nachios, from her tanned skin and dark hair, wave goodbye to her driver and slip easily into the crowd gathered around the front of the Academy admin building. The Nachios family where the only others in town who dared to venture in business with the Stark company around, and while they were less successful than the company Tony’s last name was splattered across, they did well enough and were smart enough to not directly challenge the weapons market that Stark dominated. They mattered so little to Stark Industries that Tony couldn’t honestly even recall quite what their company did…

His attention span never that great, it snapped now to a silver haired man looking rather stern as he chatted to two students, especially serious as he spoke to the boy. Judging that look with ease, Tony could place him as their father, and judging by the neater briefcase than Dr Selvig’s, he was probably a teacher too. Wanda took her father’s advice well, bobbing her head in a nod that ruffled auburn locks as she assured him she was serious about her studies, and being his pride and joy helped her case substantially. As for her twin brother Pietro, his grey eyes seemed annoyed as he was reminded the rules that had been drilled into him all summer; ‘no trouble, no pranks, no fights.’

But just because his dad was a teacher now, undoubtedly only to pry and keep a watchful eyes on both his children, it didn’t mean Pietro would have any different ideas from what he had at his old school…

Someone had to make things fun at this stuffy boarding school, after all.

After making a mental note to ask the early grey kid what brand of hair gel he used to get that spike, Tony’s attention again wandered, and not back to the still chattering Pepper in the limo with him. Another sister and brother duo were making their way out of a small white car, these two actually looked more from the same gene pool than Pietro and Wanda however, matching each other with light blond hair and blue eyes, though the sisters were slightly darker than her brother, who took a moment to comb his hair, ruffle his uniform and undo his tie while she watched him in disapproval.

“…Johnny! It’s only the first day… Don’t push your luck. We’re lucky to even be here!”

“…Chill out, Sue-” The brother called Johnny quickly replied to his older sister, poking out his tongue. “Maybe you should jazz up your uniform… You always did complain about sinking into the background at our old school-” Susan Storm had winced at her younger brothers unthinking words however, and Johnny quickly back tracked knowing he had struck a tender chord.

“…Okay okay, I’ll keep my shirt on until lunchtime, if that makes you happy-“ He joked, the delivery so perfect that Sue couldn’t help but laugh and soon the pair were smiling again as they made their way to the admin building, Sue tying Johnny’s tie back to perfection as they went.

Tony only got to meet the handful or so other interesting characters when Pepper almost all but dragged him out of the car, reminding him he was acting like a spoiled kindergartener with a pout like that on his face. One familiar face caught his eye in the crowd and he grinned at the long haired blond, offering her a wink and a smooth; “Carol… Looking marvellous today~”

Carol Danvers rolled her blue eyes at Tony, but nodded her head back a touch, both already being acquaintances for occasional parties in the high end of town where they both often had a habit of having too much to drink. “…I’m surprised to see you even bothered with a uniform. The limo is a nice touch, though.” She shot back before returning to her conversation with a couple of the other girls, Jan, Darcy, Jane and Jennifer to be precise.

It wasn’t long before another made her way over to that small gaggle of girls, Betty Ross finally managing to brush her military father away from his stern lectures about keeping on task and avoiding boys with a quick reminder that he was already running late for his military job by taking this time to drop her at school. The brown eyed, long black haired girl was relieved now he wasn’t here to keep his watchful eye, and soon engaged with Jane in a couple of questions on the science research she’d been doing with Selvig over the holidays while Darcy and Jan invited Carol to the shopping trop they had planned this weekend, and complimented Jen’s lonnngggg legs.

Weird. Girls talking science next to ones talking fashion. Tony would never get over that…

Not that Tony particularly noticed him, but the only X-Kid who wasn’t boarding at the school was already finding himself fitting straight into that group like a pea in a pod. Bobby Drake was probably the most talkative out of the male X-Kids, but he helped lighten their moods a little and was getting into some conversation with Colossus about the amount of snow the exchange student got back at home during the Winter. With a laugh and a little joke about his seeming fixation on snowy weather, Storm took this as the time to duck in and give Bobby a friendly, welcoming smile. 

“That’s it… We’re calling you Iceman!”

Bobby seemed too happy at the nickname, replying so cheerily with a wide grin it made every X-Kid who heard the pun groan, made Kitty giggle, and even made the rather quiet and hanging back Rogue gain a ghost of a smile.

“…Hey, at least that makes me the coolest!”

One last figure hung on the edge of the crowd, looking particularly bored as she fiddled with her nails, flicking a lock of long white hair behind her shoulder as sharp aqua glinting eyes watched each and every person bustle about. Felicia Hardy would much rather be spending her day anywhere but in school, but the deal wasn’t so bad. It kept her name clean if she was ‘stuck’ from the hours of 9-4 in the school. And she was here for rehabilitation purposes… from a family clean and pristine enough that could batter for a strict school rather than their daughter face juvenile detention time for her unfortunate interest in practising kleptomania. She had everything already, yes, but there was nothing fun about that. She just loved the challenge in taking something. And sizing up some of the shiny cars and sleek accessories hanging about just itching to go missing… maybe coming to a fancy-shmanchy school was way better than a hard sentence.

Though it seemed nearly everyone had gathered, and the teachers (mainly Principle Fury) were planning to speak up, a sporty jeep that Tony surprisingly recognised rolled quickly into the parking lot. Shaking his head, the young genius noticed the scratches on the sporty model and wondered who seriously ever thought it was a good idea to give ‘ye old prince charming' a licence.

Actually, Tony never thought of Fandrall as a Prince Charming. He was more like Robin Hood with all the fancy showy stuff (and Tony could swear he had seen the blond wearing tights once). Of course, in the horrible place of passengers with their lives in Fandrall’s hand were Jackie Chan (Hogun), Ginger Hagrid (Volstagg) and Xena (Sif). But this was strange. They’re usual ‘leader’ was nowhere to be seen, and if Tony remembered correctly, Thor carpooled everywhere with these guys. Unless he was too stupid and failed so badly in the trial last year the Academy didn’t want him back at all. Tony was still a little bit jaded by the fact he hadn’t been invited last year… That and the fact he and Thor Odinson, while from a similar social class with influential families, couldn’t be any more different from each other. (Who the hell still put fathers names in kids surnames anyway?!) 

So where was the bulky jock, if he wasn’t accompanying his merry band of men? (Sif almost counted as a man, Tony knew first had she could punch like one- Long story-)

Tony knew nothing kept Thor away from this place, despite him being so much of a dumbass in academics, so it was hard thinking of what else there could be, and why his friends chatted only amongst themselves and looked so grim (even Hogun more so than usual) as they listened to Fury instructing them all to follow Mr Coulson to homeroom…

\---

The reason for Thor Odinson’s lateness, and his younger brother Loki’s too, had started at least a month ago in the middle of blissful summer holidays. One might think it strange that something far, so far back could make someone late, but it was like an old saying Thor had heard many times from his father.

_“If the storm is damaging enough, it can take months to recover.” ___

__And what a storm had struck the house of Odin Allfather, a wizened political and religious figure in town, by the result of a nosy dark haired teenager fishing through his father’s files only to find some paperwork that had turned the normally happy household on its head._ _

__Loki had discovered his adoption papers, and had taken it out on everyone who would listen for the last four weeks of the summer break._ _

__You can imagine how excited Thor grew with each and every day closer to the beginning of year at SHIELD Academy, despite the lingering warning in his mind from the end of last year’s trial where Fury warned him that his grades seriously needed improvement, and he should use this second chance to repeat wisely. Before Loki’s upsetting news had come clean, he had been equally excited about starting at the prestigious school, having been so upset when only Thor was allowed to go last year. There wasn’t much Loki looked forward to at all these days, however, and waking up on the morn of the first day of school to a loud crash next door, Thor soon found out why Loki was making such a racket._ _

__“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GO! YOU ARE NOT MY PARENTS!” It was almost amazing how loud the slight, dark haired boy could be when he wanted. Seemingly pale and frail, an easy target until he flailed you with words as many attempted bullies had found out in the past and then been greeted by Thor’s protective fist for good measure later._ _

__Frigga, apparently, was trying to rationalise with her raven haired son. Having brought him his ironed uniform and told him breakfast was ready, Loki broke into a fit at the idea of being forced to return to school. Normally, it wouldn’t have been a problem since he was so incredibly intelligent and studious, but since finding those loathsome papers he just tended to do whatever was opposite of what mother and father said._ _

__The bulky blond of the brothers managed to crawl his way out of bed, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek as he passed down the hall as if it would give her strength to fight off the tears he could see bubbling in the corners of her eyes. It was so sad, this was his mother’s first day of school too, coming in to help teach Music at the Academy… and here Loki was making it painfully difficult already._ _

__It took much coaxing, and Frigga eventually having to agree she would leave Loki alone the moment he got home in the afternoon before the younger had finally made his way out, already dressed sharply and smoothly in his uniform, the pinnacle of class in contrast with his tantrum this morning. They didn’t talk at breakfast anymore, which made Thor sadder than he could begin to describe. What once used to be fun and stories was now his mother already finished her meal and in the kitchen cleaning, his father at work to avoid what was brewing at home, his brother staring moodily onto his bowl, and Thor sitting there with a thousand things to say but nothing except tense silence seeming to fit in the room._ _

__Thor’s friends had arrived to pick them up, but after one look at his face and hearing one of Loki’s venomous remarks while he was rushing around and getting ready, Sif, Hogun, Fandrall and Volstagg just gave the blond a silent look of understanding, a clap on the shoulder (or hug in Sif’s case) and departed for school. They couldn’t bring themselves to ask Thor to leave his mother and Loki alone in the car for the ride to school… Things were hard enough on Frigga even with Thor there._ _

__The brothers were late for school, Frigga too but it mattered less for her since she had no morning class, and as she quickly kissed Thor on the cheek and gave Loki a wave and a kind word since he had skittered back the moment she went to touch him, she dropped them off at the front before going to search for a park._ _

__Loki and Thor had walked in silence, it was better than walking in shouts. Thor had learned that the hard way after many a screaming match with the younger about how horribly he was treating mother. All it had done was left a rift, and this high wall of silence that hurt the blond to even think about…_ _

__Loki walked late into homeroom without even knocking, probably slipped into a seat unnoticed too. He was good at blending into the scenery when he wanted too, but Thor just did it the old fashion way, Phil wasn’t a mean teacher anyway and he knew he wouldn’t be in too much trouble with him._ _

__As he entered the room, every set of eyes swung his way, and the bulky blond was dazed for a moment at how the class size had more than doubled from last year, but he kept up an apologetic smile and waved to Mr Coulson._ _

__“…I’m sorry for my disturbance. I slept in and kept mother and my brother from getting here on time… Not like I am one who needs the catching up though, if Homeroom is anything like last year!” He mused, apologetic expression slowly shifting to a grin._ _

__“…It’s not a problem Thor, good to have you back. Hope the holidays have given you a lot to think about.” Coulson replied smoothly as he waved generally to the only two free desks left in the room, just behind Thor’s friends but in front of… Tony Stark. Never the less, Thor followed the order and settled down with a sigh, only sparing one unavoidable glance to where Loki sat over by Amora and Skurge._ _

__“…Soooo- Point break- Never knew you had a brother, is he the kid hidden under the stairs, hmn?”_ _

__Thor wasn’t exactly the most patient kid, and it took all his effort to not turn around and deck Stark one for even suggesting such a thing._ _

__“Far from it. Loki is just younger… And more introverted. And has even less patience than I for dealing with people like you.”_ _

__“…Ahhh. I see. People like me. So that’s why he looked like standing near you as he walked in was more painful than a bout of constipation-“_ _

__And thus Tony Stark began pushing his first buttons of the year, which bothered Clint Barton who was sitting next to him because the genius’s voice was really annoying and hard to ignore when he was trying to focus his attention across the room to Natasha, the red head he had met on the bus._ _

__“Just shut up and leave the guy alone.” Clint interrupted Tony for the sake of his head as he tried to clear the voices of the most sarcastic bastard and dense jock in the world from his mind, their banter more repetitive than the nyan-cat song._ _

__Baffled that he got told such a thing, Tony’s attention flickered to his neighbour for the first time as Thor gave Clint a thankful grin. “Oh…?”_ _

__And all was silent, for just a few moments, until Tony picked up something that Clint would probably end up regretting for the rest of his school life._ _

__“…Y’know, for a guy who thinks arguing is rude, maybe you should quit staring. The more you look at a girl, especially in your case buddy, the less likely she is going to be taking her pants off… Though in the case of Natasha Romanov, I actually think you’d be better off if it didn’t happen.”_ _

__Clint hissed a quiet “Get fucked.” That only Stark and the silently bemused Thor could hear, but it only took him ten seconds before he took the bite of Tony’s information bait. “…And what the hell is that even supposed to mean?”_ _

__Waggling his eyebrows at the archer, Tony rubbed the stubble on his chin a moment before putting on his best (horrible) impersonation of Sir David Attenborough and making his fingers a square shape that was meant to mime a camera he had Natasha framed in._ _

__“…Behold the deceptively beautiful creature known throughout high schools far and wide as the ‘man eater’. This particular one we nickname ‘The Black Widow’ for a few prominent reasons-” Tony paused to take a dramatic breath before shifting his ‘lense’ onto the blind kid sitting a few rows up ahead. “Take exhibit A; Matthew Murdock. Word on the street is he could still see until the day he and dear Natty broke up-” Another effective pause where Clint’s eyebrows had nearly risen to his hairline._ _

__“That’s insane.”_ _

__“Quite the contrary, my friend… What is insane, however, is exhibit B-”And of all the people in the room, Tony focussed on Wade Wilson, who was currently pulling a sock puppet out of his bag for god knows what reason. “…Used to be completely sane, apparently… And then came the spider that sat down beside her- err… him~”_ _

__Thankfully, before Clint could whack Tony for saying such stupid things, or Thor could laugh at all the ridiculousness, the bell had gone for the end of homeroom and Coulson stood up from his desk with a small smile, pleased everyone was getting to know each other on this day, since he had been too nice to set work._ _

__“…Time for Assembly guys. This will be the Monday of every Week 1 of the timetable from now until the end of the year. Speaking of timetables, you’ll be getting them now- Come on.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Assembly hadn’t been too long, Fury had kept it short and sweet, basic rules, the welcoming all the usual back to school business. And before long everyone had gotten their timetables and were free to chat and compare classes. Thor had cheered so loudly beside Tony and Clint (Yeah, it was weird, for some reason they had walked to and sat together in the assembly), that the archer’s sunglasses fell off his nose and Tony had actually jumped._ _

__“…I have a double free after this!!!” Thor explained quickly, grin wide and bright. “…I don’t take Biology, see?” And sure enough, the bulky blond was lucky he didn’t have to attend a single lesson until after lunchtime. Clint and Tony still had the class though, the genius having chosen not to drop a single subject, and Clint frowned as he noticed he had to wait until this afternoon for his first free (Chemistry.) Clint didn’t take Art either, since it was a five period class in the fortnight (Chem was five too) and students were allowed to have up to ten free periods in two weeks. Thor was lucky in that regard too, Biology was a five period class as well so he had been allowed to drop IT too, which was better off for everyone, including the poor computers._ _

__As it turned out though, double Biology wasn’t actually too bad considering Professor Xavier (Or just Professor X if they wanted), spent half of the double just introducing himself and getting to know everyone in his class of a whopping 37 students. During this time, Clint sat up the back of the room on his own, not trusting his patience to put up with Stark without Thor there as a bit of a distraction. Tony, meanwhile, found an interesting acquaintance in one Bruce Banner in this class, laughing as he timed how long it took the be-speckled curly haired nerd to accept that Tony, though admittedly he didn’t look it, was a brain of the school himself._ _

__And before everyone knew it, even though the second half had been spent on a pop quiz to test their prior knowledge of biology (thankfully ungraded), the bell for lunch was chiming and all the hungry students made their way to the cafeteria block almost in the middle of the school, where Thor and Volstagg were already lined up, laughing together and waiting, after enjoying their shared free._ _

__Funny how not one of the chattering eating students knew, except for one Clint Barton who had long not given a thought to the matter since he was busy watching Natasha out of the corner of his eye again, none of them knew that one student wasn’t present at the Academy yet.  
He couldn’t come on the first day…_ _

__But not without a very good reason for it._ _

__\---_ _

__Further into town, at the Erskine Family Practice to be precise, Steven Rogers was having what he was determined to let be his very last needle for a lifetime. Not that it wasn’t worth it, of course, but the last two months had been nothing but filled with medicals and he was just too excited to sit and wait for any more test results. Which was exactly what he was doing right now, in fact, but he wasn’t the only one waiting. Dr Erskine was peering thoughtfully over a slide of Steve’s blood through the microscope, and the investor for this whole treatment, Howard Stark, leaned back against a wall, smiling across the room as if this wasn’t possibly the biggest medical marvel in years._ _

__“How’re you feeling, kid…?”_ _

__No matter what stage of the treatment, or what the result was, not once had Howard ever stopped calling Steve ‘kid’, since that first moment Dr Erskine had started the first test trial. Steve had only been small and frail then, incredibly sickly and malnourished, he couldn’t have blamed the businessman for the nickname then. But now? Now when his legs were long enough that his bare feet grazed along the ground when he sat on the sick bed? Now when his arms where twice the size his neck had once been? Now when he toward well over Howard frame the guy could still call him kid? It didn’t bother Steve, not at all actually, it was nice to be reminded that through this whirlwind transformation of his health and body, someone still saw him as the same old Steve._ _

__“Not bad at all, Mr Stark. I’m only here so I can finally get the A-Okay to go to school.” At least he was being honest, Steve couldn’t believe his luck at being granted a scholarship by the principle of SHIELD Academy himself to come and play football of all things. And keep in mind, this scholarship had been sent a month ago, when all these treatments were still only half way done. Steve was a nice kid, always had been, and was smart enough when it came to his grades… SHIELD would be a challenge, and scary as a poorer kid coming in when everyone had probably grown up together before coming to this school, but the blue eyed blond knew it was the best option for his future._ _

__“…I can’t believe it…” Came a mutter from Dr Erskine, shaking his head side to side as he took off his glasses and peered at Steve sitting on the sick bed.”…Not a single abnormality, it’s like your body is almost getting stronger the more we ween you off the dose. I think you’ll be completely ready, Steven my boy. Won’t even need to take a dose with you…”_ _

__Howard was the sceptical one, however, frowning deeply and seriously at the doctor before glancing pointedly at Steve. “…You’re absolutely sure? My company has put the funding into this thing, and if it all goes sour-” He paused then, trying to turn professional business man mode off as he had noticed the droop to Steve’s smile. “…And of course we’ve gotta be sure the kid’ll be fine. He’s been through a lot, don’t want him to get sick again, he was kind enough to volunteer for all this after all.”_ _

__“I am one hundred perfect confident Stark, I’ve never seen anything like it… Dare I say it, he’s healthier than us now!”_ _

__Howard gave a loud laugh at that one, grinning ear to ear. “…I think anyone’d be healthier than me these days… But if you’re sure…” He hummed thoughtfully before turning back to Steve, shoving his fidgeting hands into the pockets of his pants as he rocked on his heels before the teen._ _

__“…Hate to say it, kid. But you can’t hang out with us all day anymore… Gotta go and pack your things for school tomorrow-”_ _

__Steve didn’t say a thing, just rose to his feet standing straight strong and proud before reaching out and grabbing Howard’s hand, shaking it firmly and proudly. He met the others eyes determinedly and tried to keep the smile on his lips from turning into the big goofy one he just wanted to let slip at that news._ _

__“...I’d like to thank you, so much, Mr Stark sir. Without your support, I would have never been able to afford any of this.”_ _

__Releasing Howard’s hand, he turned to the doctor now and clasped him gently on the shoulder, a little less formal since this was the guy who had been taking his family in for treatments of all kind for many years, free of charge since the Rogers’ had always struggled economically._ _

__“…And thank you, Dr Erskine. For always doing your best to make me better… No matter what illness I had. And no matter how little I could always do for you in return.”  
Howard and the doctor paused, glancing at each other for a moment before Mr Stark nodded and they both said in unison, to this miracle of medical science and just all round, genuine, kind person that such a good thing definitely deserved to come to. “…It’s been our pleasure, really.”_ _

__Howard offered one more piece of advice, unconscious to the fact that he didn’t even say the next few words to his own son before Tony began school today._ _

__“…Good luck with school, kiddo… Hope you don’t need it!”_ _

__And with that, Steven Rogers was off, racing home on his push-bike faster than he had gone in his entire life, eager to return home and tell his mother all about what had been decided, and that finally he could go back to school, no longer sickly, and get the education she had always wanted him to have._ _


	5. Not Quite Routine

A total of 41 students had wandered their way to History after the lunch hour was over. Now while normally a class so large might have trouble fitting into an allocated space, SHIELD Academy managed this by introducing new refurbishing to the rooms and gave them a layout more similar to a college or university classroom, or at least this was what Peter Parker explained to a few who would listen as they walked in. Apparently it was also meant to prepare them in future education from how self-learning and pursuing electives within a subject might lead to a very independent learning experience.

While everyone settled into the three long curving rows of desk space, their teacher stood; dark, solemn and pensive as he waited for them to quiet down.

It was at this point, somewhere on the end of the middle row, Sif and Volstagg gasped while Thor grinned and Fandrall cried out; “Heimdall!” Even Loki, from the opposite side of the room in the back row, flicked a mildly surprised glance in their teacher’s direction before glancing down and making a deliberate process out of neatening his pencil case on the desk.

Though Heimdall did not smile nor acknowledge the recognition, it was indeed true that a few of his students already knew him. He took nightshift working as a security guard at the Allfather manor and many a time had he stopped Thor and his friends from sneaking out on some adventure when they should have been inside at sleepovers. His photographic memory made him a perfect candidate for this job however, watching over such a large class as well as having an in depth knowledge of history as if he had almost personally been recording it for thousands of years.

Finally, he spoke, his deep calm bass voice filling the room and silencing those last few students who refused to hush. He had one of those perfect voices for catching attention, which would come in handy in the semesters to follow.

“…That will be Mr Watcher to you all this year. And in case you wish to know, yes I live up to my name, so, Mr Maximoff, please put away that magazine you are trying to show Mr Storm under the desk.” Without even looking at them or blinking, he had unnerved Pietro and Johnny who both jumped in their seats and hastily started paying proper attention as Pietro’s magazine dropped to the floor.

After that impressive display, no one acted up in Heimdall’s class for the rest of the lesson, and it was spent with instructions for everyone to talk amongst each other and start writing a list of the periods they would be interested in studying this year.

“You see, the curriculum at SHIELD is flexible. As long as you know how to respond in essay format, to any period be it modern or ancient, and can harness resources for your arguments, I am happy to teach a variety of topics which you choose.” He paused, watching some students relax and seem a whole lot more pleased at the idea an area of history they actually liked might be a valid period for an exam.

“…The first semester will be devoted to Ancient electives, whatever you all put down on that list. The second will be devoted to Modern electives that you have also indicated an interest in. The third semester will be a mixture of individual and group work where you will work on composing historical essays and harnessing your skills in using resources. The fourth semester will be one final individual essay paper on your chosen historical period, as well as revision for your final exams.”

Though Mr Heimdall had never been a teacher before, by the time each student was leaving the lesson and talking about the contributions they had made to the list, every student in his class of 41 thought he was one of the best prepared teachers they had so far. And most seemed hopeful that just maybe History could be a subject they passed thus year… 

Now he had the classroom to himself, Heimdall peered over the large piece of paper the class had made their list on. There were some interesting mixes of electives that the students seemed eager to learn. Norse history seemed to be highly popular as an elective, as well as Egyptian and Roman as it usually seemed to be, though some had thrown him some interesting curveballs like one neat scrawl that requested ‘African tribal history’. He would’ve bet this had anything to do with the attentive, dark-skinned Miss Munroe who had been sitting in the front row at full attention.

And in Modern there were your usual interests too, The World Wars, American History, Vietnam. But he would have to guess the blocky scrawl of ‘Modern Russia’ and the neater, decorative hand ‘The rise and fall of the Russian empire.’ Would’ve had to come from Mr Rasputin and Miss Romanov. Smart kids trying to use their heritage to get an edge in grades, it would seem.

All in all, Heimdall was already enjoying teaching much more than he thought he would be. This year with this History class was certainly going to be an interesting affair.

Meanwhile, the ‘Nerds’ block (nicknamed for having Selvig’s lab and the Maths room next to each other as well as the Bio and IT classroom attached to them via their back wall) sat across the walkway from the History and Art block. A good proportion of the History class left with smiles plastered on their faces that they didn’t have to face the horrors of Chemistry in Selvig’s lab. Clint left without a second glance, not having to explain to anyone he was heading off to the Archery range since the unwanted ‘friends’ he had picked up in Stark and Thor this morning had already forgotten about his presence in favour of talking to older friends (Thor) or flirting with girls (Tony) from within the line outside the lab door. In the end, only 31 students were left, awaiting Dr Selvig’s lesson and talking warily between each other about what to expect.

Within five minutes, Dr Eric Selvig appeared at the door, not as flustered as he had been earlier in the day with his stacks of paper work, but much more cheerful than most of their other teachers so far. He stopped everyone from walking into the room straight away and instead quickly explained.

“Hold your horses kids! Rather than sitting at the desks today, I want you in groups of four at the benches around the room. When I call your name, come forward, I’ll give you an ‘element’ and you find the desk it corresponds to.” As everyone groaned at the idea of randomised class mates, Selvig shook his head. “…Come on now, it won’t be that bad. You’ll have an option a little later in the term to swap your groups around, but for now I want to see how you go not just with your best friends. Now, Skurge Axeman, come up here if you will…”

It took about five minutes for Selvig to get most of the way through the role. Tony, being somewhat towards the bottom, had crossed his fingers the whole time hoping he was the only guy in a group of girls, since most of the girls in this class surprisingly weren’t bad looking… Considering it was Chemistry. Oh a group of girls would be great! Especially this wasn’t a class that Pepper took so she couldn’t nag him for wandering eyes and not paying attention. As Eric called his name, Tony all but strutted forward, waiting to hear his element…

“Who’s got Vibranium~?” Tony asked as he slinked into the room, and to almost his utter disappointment, a cheerfully bulky long haired blond and his be-speckled acquaintance from Biology in the morning waved him over. Thor and Bruce. Great. Even though there weren’t any girls in their group (Tony had only let his hopes drop when the whole class had piled in and they were the only group of three), he supposed it could’ve been worse. Bruce was intelligent, that much he knew already from their earlier chat on Science and what fields they pursued. Chemistry and Physics were his strongest suites, in fact, Bruce having babbled animatedly and confidentially for a change about his fascination with gamma radiation studies. But having Thor in a group? Dead weight, for sure, they’d be dragging his dumb ass along until the first opportunity for a group swap which could be weeks away…

As Tony spent most of the lesson plotting how to get Thor out of the group, the bulky blond meanwhile had been introducing himself to Bruce. This startled the be-speckled science nerd as never had he had anything near a ‘pleasant’ chat with a jock of any kind. He was expecting Thor to turn into a bully at any moment, and the more they chatted the guiltier he felt at still waiting for that friendly tone to turn harsh and ridiculing. Sneaking a glance to Tony, Bruce sighed, still not entirely sure if he had bought the others brainy bragging this morning. After all, the only vibe Tony Stark gave off was an over confident smart ass party boy, at least at last he’d have to walk the walk as well as talking the talk. 

Dr Selvig’s first lesson consisted of them working as a group to identify and list properties of the eight elements he had used to divide them into groups. This involved a lot of chatter and table swapping so it was a fun way for the class to interact and get to know the lab environment. As Thor ‘a-hummed’ and ‘a-ha’d’ and sweated it out over the element at another groups table that he obviously could not identify, and Tony was taking his turn to try and chat up Jen (Bruce was really trying to ignore that), Bruce himself had reached out to pick up the Adamantium sample at the same time as someone else from Jen’s group had.

“Oh! I’m sorry! I thought your group had finished…” Betty Ross murmured, bringing her hand back after it had grazed his, her deep brown eyes flicking to the currently useless forms of Thor and Tony. Bruce’s mouth had gone dry as he had looked up to her face, and it took him a moment to compose himself so that he wouldn’t splutter as he spoke to her, his hand shooting back too to leave the Adamantium abandoned on the desk.

“…No, it’s okay, you go… I don’t need it.” He replied quickly, and it was true, he had identified it by sight earlier and had only gone to pick it up to have something to do with his hands while he had waited for Tony and Thor to stop being such idiots in different ways. Taking a breath, he gave her a wary smile before reciting, as if out of an invisible textbook; “Adamantium, the sample is approximately 254 grams worth. It is a highly valued and well sort after metal compound with the unique quality of being virtually indestructible unless faced with another sample of heated Adamantium. Often bonded with Vibranium to make it even stronger and create a high resistance to its heated self…” He faltered, realising how much of an absolute geek he must’ve sounded, reaching up quickly to ruffle the back of his head, a nervous habit. But on the contrary, Betty looked incredibly impressed, a great smile stretching across her lips.

“Wow, yeah! I knew most of that, daddy was telling me how the military is looking into its uses but… Yeah. Jeez, I would’ve never been able to guess the weight, that’s amazing!” 

Bruce didn’t know how to feel, never had he met a girl that had even understood him when he wandered off onto the Science tangent, and here Betty was beaming at him, interested at that-

And then the bell went, his chance was gone before his ‘genius’ mind had even figured out a way to respond. Betty shot him an apologetic smile as she dashed back to her group’s bench to get her things…

Chemistry, as a whole, had been rather enjoyable after all, even with a dodgy group.

The last lesson for the day was where the Chemistry class was heading now, ALL of them, because Maths, as most of them had discovered, was the class that had nearly all the students of SHIELD Academy in it. It was the only class, apart from Heimdall’s History group, that had more than 40 students and stopped at a neat 43 on the current role. Darcy waved at them all as she passed, teasing them as she spoke loudly of her free afternoon plans to go and have a nice, long nap since her Distance Education subject of Political Science didn’t start until next week. And of course, there was one other student missing too, the mystery kid that was Clint’s roommate who hadn’t shown his face at the Academy yet.

“Remember the nervous weedy little guy who is our teacher for this, Skurge~?” Amora asked while lined up outside the classroom, being next door to their last class meant everyone had time to gather and talk. Her voice was all scathing venom as her ever present large companion merely grunted out a laugh. Loki quirked a dark brow in her direction, his sharp green eyes betraying a little curiosity, but more annoyance since he hated them knowing more than he did about anything.

Amora noticed his stare and sent Loki, her not quite friend, but long term acquaintance who seemed to slowly be hanging around herself and Skurge more and more, a simpering smile. “…He’ll be a push over, this class will be in anarchy by the end of the week, I bet it.”

Loki had to admit, silently, that as Reed Richard’s wandered out the class room door and gave them all an incredibly wary smile as they entered the room, Amora might quite be right. What on earth was that incompetent Fury thinking when he had signed on a teacher who looked like he was in the middle of a nervous breakdown when the year had just begun?

Everyone settled into their seats, but Mr Richard’s had neither the commanding presence like Heimdall, nor the experience of Professor Xavier or Dr Selvig to calm the class swiftly. It took some time, but slowly he managed to have voice enough over the excited 42 students who longed to be free for the afternoon. This seemed another fairly relaxed lesson. Loki guessed scathingly from the front corner it was because Richard’s was ill equipped to deal with such a vast class on an important subject, but their teacher broke it down to first introducing himself, speaking about how this job was filling in the blanks while he completed his thesis’s and degree’s and tried to get his work either published or his experiments investment. Next was a demonstration, their teacher slightly flustered as the interrupting request echoed across the room, his advanced mathematical ability put to test by answering a long and hefty complicated formula that Tony spouted from the top of his head. He got it correct, faster than any of the students would ever hope to, even Tony the genius prodigy seemed mildly impressed and let Mr Richard’s continue with the lesson. It was then things got even better, and made their nervous young teacher seem a little more human as he permitted the class to call him by his first name; Reed.

“…I am far too young to be addressed as ‘Mr’ all the time, considering I’m probably about as old as some of your brothers and sisters.” This got a laugh, and the change in Reed was clear, his confidence had grown through the period and he seemed five times more respectable than the nervous wreck that had greeted the class forty five minutes previously. 

The last ten minutes of the lesson was spent with Reed rapidly scribbling out on the board anything the students shouted out that they wanted more help or revision in. He explained this first semester was going to be less about bringing in new concepts and more about solidifying what the class already knew while bridging up any gaps that may be in a student’s knowledge.

By the time the bell went, many couldn’t believe that a Math’s lesson had gone by so fast, and while students streamed out the door aching to enjoy the rest of their afternoon and head home or back to the dorms, Reed found a piece of paper on his desk and started scribbling down the topics from the board, making a mental note to go back to his own room and sort out lesson plans for the next few weeks.

Pushing up his reading glasses as he pocketed the piece of paper, before removing the spectacles all together and throwing them towards his desk, Reed smiled, unable to believe he too had survived his first day at school. Being the afternoon lesson, he had been sitting around and dreading the whole day what was to come, he had changed his first day lesson plan at least thirty times before giving up and deciding to go impromptu… And in the end, he felt it had all actually been rather brilliant.

Blinking as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, Reed turned his head towards the classroom door where one of his students was hovering, seemingly torn between leaving and wanting to say something. Sue Storm smiled sheepishly as she was caught and took the moment to bite the bullet. “…Ah, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you Mr Richard’s-“ 

At this point he had cut across her, not intending to be rude, but just reminding the blonde of what he had said earlier in the lesson. “…Please, just Reed, I only turned 20 a few months ago, and calling me ‘Mr’ makes me feel at least double my age.”

Sue again gave a sheepish smile, but seemed to relax as he hadn’t said anything about her being a bother. “…I just wanted to hang back and say… I think you’re going to make really great teacher. Don’t let anyone make you nervous, I think there’s a handful of kids that are going to be trouble for everyone in the next couple of weeks, but don’t let them shake your confidence…” She caught herself, quickly getting back on topic as her smile grew warmer, more friendly. “…You make math, sound almost beautiful. I never really have cared much for it but, watching the way you work makes me think… Maybe I can do that too one day. That’s all I wanted to say Mr Rich-… Reed.”

Reed felt touched, never in all his twenty years had he ever been… so kindly complimented on his abilities. Growing up, his peers had only ever ridiculed any forms of brilliance, his own high school experience had not been pleasant, he had been the target of many bullies but had still persevered. And his superiors? Well, they were just as bad, but in different ways. Because of his youth he wasn’t regarded seriously at all, and brilliance was regarded as mere strokes of luck only because he had produced findings with only twenty years of experience in comparison to their fifty or so. That’s why he had been forced to accept this position at SHIELD, mainly because his money was running so low from the amount of unpublished findings and thesis’s that he had been unable to even pay his monthly rent the month before last. Between then and the beginning of term, he had stayed at his friend Benjamin Grimm’s apartment, but it was so nice to arrive at SHIELD and have a room to himself, a space where he could work in peace and have the smell of books and ink fill his nose rather than piled up pizza boxes and that aroma that could only be described as ‘bachelor pad’ that lingered around at Ben’s.

Blinking out of those thoughts, surprised that Sue’s simple kind words had been able to send him on such a tangent, Reed merely nodded for a moment, his own smile much more honest as he answered. “…I- I don’t know what to say, thank you Susan-“

It was at this point she cut him off, grinning with a touch of cheeky humour that only just now she was finding the confidence to show. “…Ew, please, you sound like my grandmother. Just Sue, I insist. Or else I’ll start calling you Mr Richard’s again-“

Reed laughed, so easily it startled him as Ben often joked he must’ve broken his funny bone somewhere along the road or else not be born with one at all.  
“…Alright Sue, but thank you. I hope you learn a lot from me, if you ever need a hand, I’m here, okay? You… You should be off, go enjoy your afternoon and head home. I’ll see you first period tomorrow, bright eyed and bushy tailed, right?”

Sue nodded quickly, walking back towards the door with an airy grace, she took one moment to wave and smile again, muttering a quick; “I’ll see you tomorrow!” And then she was gone in a twirl of blonde hair, almost as if she had disappeared in thin air.

Picturing a sweet face as his mind was still ticking around being granted such a lovely compliment for a change, Reed still couldn’t keep himself from smiling as he gathered up his briefcase, turned off the lights and locked up the classroom before wandering back to the dorm building.

His first day back at high school, since the day he had graduated incredibly early at 15 years old, and Reed had to admit it was probably the best day he had ever spent inside the grounds of a school. Maybe he could handle this teaching thing after all…

\---

Maria Hill had been waiting outside the Math’s classroom, catching kids as they poured out and making sure each and every student was given one of the sheets of paper she was handing out. In the chaos occasionally she could be heard saying a phrase or two such as “Extra curricula timetable!” or “If you need tutoring, this has teachers free hours!” and “Make sure you grab one if you signed up for Clubs!” In the end, she frowned as she was left with two spares, demanding everyone to stay until she knew everyone had a sheet. At this point Sue had slipped out of the classroom and slinked forward to grab one, and Jan too let out a startled noise as she hurried forward and asked Hill if she could take the spare up to Darcy, since she had just finished a free period. Relaxing as the last sheet left her hands, Hill even managed a smile as she wished them all a good afternoon and departed back to the admin block.

Some of the away from campus kids had time to kill, including most of the teachers kids and some who’s parent’s just worked late. Thor, after convincing Loki he could get home and be left alone faster if he came, departed with his friends and his brother straight away, but not before waving goodbye to Bruce, Tony and Clint. Only the first seemed pleased and returned the gesture while the other’s just seemed embarrassed and avoided looking towards Fandrall’s sporty jeep speeding away. The Storm siblings took off pretty quick too, but not before Johnny could blow kisses at a group of girls who only giggled when Sue started dragging him away by the ear. Elektra and Felicia were both picked up on time too by their family’s respectively impressive cars. Bruce was sad to see Betty was an early departer too, watching her hug her new friends Jane and Peggy goodbye, before she hoped in her dad’s intimidating army jeep. It made Fandrall’s car look like a Barbie accessory. Tony had volunteered to hang around a while, mainly because Pepper was giving him puppy dog eyes about showing him the dorming house and wanted to swap and share stories of the first day since they had only been able to sit together in one class. Jane was dragged inside by Darcy who wanted to show her the room she and Jan had already bombarded with posters. Carol was engaged in conversation with Jen in the main chill out space on the first floor simply because ‘her parents didn’t mind if she stayed out’. Wanda and Pietro had joined in with a rather large group in this same space, discussing the Extra Curricula timetables Hill had all but crammed down their throats and were swapping what they’d signed up for while they waited for their father to collect them.

“I’m HATING that football training isn’t just gonna be on Monday evenings, but Coach expects us to function on Tuesday and Thursday at 7’o clock in the morning, AND wants to take a four hour chuck out of our Saturday too!” Pietro whined dramatically.

“…You knew this Academy took football seriously well before you accepted the offer for the team, Pietro, so stop complaining. At least you’re not expected to be up at 7 on that Saturday you mentioned. You don’t have to worry about anything until 10!” Wanda shot back, and a few fellow cheerleaders in the gathered group nodded solemnly, thinking of their three weekly practise times. 4:30pm on Monday’s, 7:00am on Thursdays (this practise would be on the side of the field while Football was held too) and the dreaded 7:00am on Saturday.

“…Enough with the Cheerleading and Football!” Peggy pipped up, a few ‘hear hear’s sounding at her words as she sat so poised and confident, ankles crossed. “…Isn’t anyone the bloody least bit concerned, on the topic at functioning at 7:00am, that four of our teachers are only offering tutoring at those times!” There was another dull murmur, and some people just rolled their eyes, still not quite in ‘learning’ mode after how easy the first day had been. But what she had said was true, Mr Lensherr on Monday, Professor Xavier on Wednesday, Dr Selvig on Thursday (for Physics) and Heimdall on, the worst possible day, Sunday. All of them set 7:00am as their available times while only Reed had set an ‘acceptable’ hour of 4:30pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Selvig, arguably, had an even worse time for his Chemistry tutoring set at 6:00pm on a Saturday evening. You see, the kids who would probably need this extra time would be the kids who’d much rather be at a party or having fun on their Saturday night…

Peter kept quiet his buzzing excitement about the Science and Computer Club which was to be held on Wednesday and Friday nights as well as Thursday afternoon’s. If Peggy was going to get some weird looks for hushing up people’s talk of sport and objectifying the female body, he could already imagine how much they would laugh if he brought up the ‘nerdy’ club into the conversation. At least with this timetable at last he finally had a firm idea of what times he could work around to book the darkroom in the back of the art class room and develop some photo’s…

Natasha shrugged her shoulders, speaking up in a confident voice many did not expect her to have since she spoke so rarely. “…I don’t see how it’s a problem if you have good time management. Personally, I’ll be doing Cheerleading all scheduled days, Drama on Wednesday afternoon and Sunday night, Book Club on Friday afternoon… I’ll take all the tutoring sessions I can as well to keep on top of my work. And also, need I remind you I’m the Staff chosen female member for the School Representation Council, which has meetings on Tuesday night. The voting for the other places will start in a couple of weeks…” She blinked, as if surprising herself with how much she had spoken in that moment. It wasn’t until she stopped speaking that Clint, who had been hovering by the stairs, realised how much he had been hanging on her every word. “…I suppose you’ve all got a week to figure out either your timing skills, or what’s more important to you. Extracurricular doesn’t start until next Monday.”

After a slight pause where Natasha’s solemn warning words sunk in, when finally Matt Murdock spoke up after fiddling with his own brail etched timetable.

“…What I really want to know, is what the hell is a ‘Troublesome Students Program’?” He paused and everyone’s eyes darted to the mystery spot scheduled on a dreaded Sunday from 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. It seemed no one in the circle of students knew, or was a part of it. “…Because I was gonna say…” He continued, shaking his head slowly.

“…Who the hell would sign up for something like that?”

\---

Later that evening when all the non-boarders were well and truly on their way home and most of the dorming kids had settled down to eat dinner (they had all chipped in and made a plate each for a big banquet tonight rather than individual cooking), Principle Fury had just about finished over in his office at the admin block, signing off his last lot of correspondence for the day and glancing quickly over at the sheet on the back of his door. The Troublesome Student’s Program had no set members yet, but he had seen some kids that in the next few weeks he had no doubts they would be on there. Some simply for their attitudes or bad behaviour, others possibly because they displayed troubling signs and there was worse things for them then meeting on a Sunday and maybe preventing a harder path in the future. But for now, it was blissfully blank, and until there was one name on that little piece of paper, Fury thought with a hum as he locked his door, he would have Sunday’s all free to himself and wouldn’t have to deal with angry, angsty, or just plain bratty teenagers!


	6. Better Late Than Never

It had turned out Principle Nick Fury only needed to wait a few hours to get his first name on that pesky little list. It was 3’o clock in the morning in fact, when a howl of pain and the racket upstairs had awoken him from his much needed beauty sleep and he stalked up stares, his visible eye narrowed into a slit. Had he not been an authority figure, the sight he found would’ve bemused Fury to the extreme. As it was it made his mood a little less murderous as he stared down the two boys who seemed to be in the middle of all the trouble while other students who had heard the commotion peaked out their doors. Thankfully, the girls hadn’t come down, so they might not have heard. The insulation in this place was pretty sweet.

Bruce Banner stammered and spluttered fretfully wringing his hands and smearing a streak of blood that was across his right knuckles. Eddie Brock was crumpled on the ground in pain, clutching at his nose with blood streaming freely down his face. A nice solid hit, perfectly broken and maybe even cracked cartilage from the amount the kid was moaning. But Fury could hardly believe, or comprehend, how this wasn’t the other way around. While Bruce wasn’t exactly short, Eddie was definitely taller than him and at least twice his breadth with all the added luxury of muscles. How did the lil nerd mess the bully jock up this bad?

Before Nick Fury could even ask, Eddie found his voice in between hisses of pain. “…That MANIAC attacked me! For absolutely no reason when I was asleep! You’ve gotta kick him OUT!” Surprisingly, before Fury could speak again, it wasn’t Banner who piped up this time, it was that young kid, Peter Parker from next door, sounding quite strong and angry for a change, probably because he was starting to feel more like he deserved his place at this school.

“…That’s a load of crap if I ever heard it! Bruce wouldn’t do something like that…. You’re the only nasty piece of work here, Eddie!”

Fury, again, was bemused at this whole episode of ‘revenge of the nerds’, but he gave Peter a look that he should be quiet, and when Coulson had finally decided it was a good moment to arrive as backup, he sent Eddie off with him to the medical bay in the office wing. If it was bad enough, they would call an ambulance, but for now Coulson had all his medical certificates and the school had excellent insurance.

“Now, Banner. Would you like to calm down and tell me everything that happened? Since after all, you are quite literally the one with blood on their hands.”

And after a good five minutes of letting the shaken up, curly haired nerd, who looked lost without his glasses on his face, speak freely about his side of the story, the picture in Fury’s head was a whole lot clearer. Bruce, apparently, had accidentally sneezed in his sleep, waking up not just himself but Eddie too. The latter had gotten incredibly mad, and apparently quite nasty to the former. After yelling at him, which is what had woken Peter up next door, Eddie had gotten all up in Bruce’s face and shoved him against the wall, with shaky hands the nerdy teen has showed him the bruises on his upper chest and arms. And when Eddie had gone in for a punch, Bruce couldn’t remember anything. His mind had gone blank and next thing he knew Eddie was shrieking and crawling towards the door with a badly broken nose and he was standing there with blood on his fist and a dull throb where the impact had been made.

Keeping his calm, Fury thought it over before finally smiling at the kid and telling him to clean up his hand and go back to bed. Bruce looked bewildered that he hadn’t been punished, but obeyed without hesitation, Fury’s smile probably scaring him more than anything else this evening had. And you can imagine Eddie’s reaction, when an hour later he sat scowling in Fury’s office, sporting a very tender (but mostly straightened and now non bleeding) nose and sporting two brilliant, big black eyes, he found out that Fury had decided to add him to the Troublesome Student’s Program after the incident.

“…Are you fucking kidding me?!” He hissed, standing up so fast the chair he had been on clattered to the ground. “…And what about Banner?! Surely he’s on it too if not kicked out, the freak!”

Fury remained eerily calm, merely folding his hands together while his elbows rested on the desk. “…Manners, Mr Brock. And surely you’ll understand why I say no to punishing a student who only acted in self-defence. If you have any problems with my decision, surely you wouldn’t mind me calling your parents and we can sit around and have a lovely debriefing about the whole scenario.”

Eddie visibly sweated and his protests died as quickly as they came. “No Principle Fury, that won’t be necessary.” He muttered through gritted teeth before heading towards the door as Fury made a motion as if to wave him away.

“…This weekend you’re free Mr Brock, but I expect to see you here, 10am sharp, Sunday week.”

\---

Naturally, by the normal waking hour for the boarding students at 7am, the whole campus knew about Bruce and Eddie’s scuffle. Even some off campus kids knew, much to Bruce’s horror, as Tony sent him a quick and congratulatory email (even though he couldn’t ever remember giving Stark his address). For an introverted kid who didn’t like to be the centre of attention, having breakfast while everyone cheered him on entry and talked and pointed to him while they ate, the only person who seemed to be treating him normally was Peter. 

The younger student was obviously happier than usual that his tormentor had finally got what was coming to him, but he was paying Bruce just the same amount of attention as he was before the incident, and for that he was grateful. Bruce still had a niggling feeling that Peter was trying to be his friend and he still didn’t have the courage to try and explain to the younger why he didn’t want any friends. Mostly because he was worried his temper might one day snap with them as it had the night before with Eddie.

Bruce hadn’t always been like that, he was a very calm and introverted kid, as studious as he is now and wouldn’t hurt a fly no matter how angry he got. But at his old high school, when he was about 15, one of his independent experiments went terribly wrong and he ended up with gamma poisoning. After spending quite a few months in hospital for treatment, doctors noted observations of his shortness of temper and sometimes violent surges if he was in a particularly bad mood. The strength increase was the most alarming, but medical professionals put it down to adrenaline. After more weeks of blood tests and medication trials to try and regulate this other side, they had concluded it was not a hormonal problem, but because of the trauma and recovery process after the gamma incident, Bruce had developed a mental condition almost akin to bipolar, but not quite. It was not erratic and a completely different personality, but a part of the young scientist lashing free to protect himself when he felt threatened or uneasy.

Living with his condition had been the most difficult part. The kids at his old school had heard all sorts of rumours and were keen on either avoiding him like the plague or severely bullying him to try and provoke his anger. There came a day where he knew if he returned to school the next day, he would be unable to stop himself from hurting one of his classmates. He had tried to kill himself that night, but miraculously survived and when he had awoke in the familiar hospital, he was enlightened with a life changing idea. So he begged his parents (his father was the one who was most opposed) and collected his savings from his bank account, and jetted off to India for the remaining months of the school year before. Here he tried a variety of drug free therapies and learned the art of meditation and deep breathing to help himself keep calm. When he felt stable enough, one of his teachers of his therapies even gave him a shining recommendation to land Bruce a job in a medical clinic as a junior assistant. Some how, in all the bustle and chaos, he had found peace within himself and finally believed for the first time that he could help and not only harm since gaining his condition.

When he had returned from India, his parents were startled by the change in Bruce. He was much more like the son that had lost to the accident. All through the Summer there had been no incidents with that ‘other’ side of Bruce. To the astonishment of everyone, who thought no school would ever open its doors for Bruce, the young be-speckled science nerd had been sent a letter from Principle Fury, inviting him not only to attend SHIELD Academy, but offer him a scholarship and a boarding room. It was a fresh start, where no one knew about his condition except for the staff who didn’t seem to treat him any differently, a chance for him to be back learning so he could achieve the academic success he knew himself to be capable of.

And now he had possibly ruined it, with one little slip due to the jerk Eddie Brock. The whole school knew something was up, and even if they didn’t figure it out straight away…

“…Bruce? Hey Bruce! You in there somewhere? I’ve asked you six times if you want another piece of toast!” Peter’s voice snapped him out of his brooding, and Bruce gave him a wary smile, shaking his head ‘no’ as he hadn‘t even managed to finish the one piece on his plate. Hunger was the last thing on his mind.

“…Hey, Peter, I’m got to head up and get ready for class… Don’t wait around for me, okay? I’ve got some questions I have to prep for Physics-“ Getting up swiftly as he lied through his teeth, Bruce thought he caught a frown play on Peter’s lips as he walked quickly away, since they didn’t even have Physics today, but the young brunet could take a hint if he needed to. Bruce bolted up the stairs to the sound of cheers from the boarding kids and thought solemnly of the days when he had dreamed of that kind of popularity, and how now all he wanted was to sink into the background again and live out his schooling days alone.

\---

Sure enough by 9am when everyone was stumbling into homeroom, the whole school knew about Bruce’s pursuits. Tony had all but dragged him over to the seat next to him which kicked Clint out of his usual spot. The archer scowled as he sat another pair of seats behind, but soon enough went blank as slipping into the other desk was none other than Natasha. While he was trying to process why she would be sitting with him, the other merely gave him a smile before poking Tony on the back of the neck which made him jump a foot. Apparently Tony was the male member already on the Student Rep Council and she had some business to discuss with him. Bruce was saved from Stark’s attentions by her appearance as he slunk down in his chair and tried to disappear into the hard wood, staring blankly at the two spare desk in front of him.

Thor, as was fast becoming the usual, was late to class. Today it was not from leaving home late or Loki’s protests, but instead because he had insisted on walking his mother down to the hall which was to be her music classroom, carrying boxes of heavy sheet music for her.

He was not the only late student however, not that Steve Rogers had any choice in the matter. He was at the school admin block, Maria Hill loading him with all the paperwork he had missed the handouts of, explaining each piece in turn, and finally getting him to sign his dorm contract and give the tall blond his key. She explained he had a few sets of uniforms in his dorm and he was to go get change, grab what he needed for school and head to homeroom. The map was a little daunting for a kid who had barely wandered outside the familiar streets of Brooklyn in his life, but a small miracle for the new kid came through the door in the sign of Thor entering the office to sign in late. Thor did a double take that he wasn’t the only one in here, but soon smiled warmly at the other teen, not sniggering at his second hand thrift shop clothes or the old fashioned way he wore his hair as kids from Steve’s old school had. Then again, Steve had grown more over this Summer than he had in years, so an extra one and a half feet and more muscles than to poke a stick at usually did pretty good to stop people from daring to be mean.

Maria watched as the two boys gave each other a silent greeting, Thor with his cheerful smile and Steve with a wary, but honest returning one before she spoke up.

“…Wait a minute, don’t leave yet Steve, I have an idea to help you out. Thor! Since you’re late already, why not make yourself useful and show Steve his way to the dorm building? Wait for him to be ready and head off to homeroom together....” She gave a rare smile, watching how Steve could barely hide his relief that he wouldn’t get hopelessly lost and watching Thor perk up straight away at the idea having been worried she was going to lecture him on bad timing two days in a row. “…Besides, gives you a good excuse for Coulson for why you’re late.”

Next thing Steve knew, all he could do was rapidly fold away his map and tuck it under the crook of his arm with the rest of his paperwork as he was bustled out of the office by this giant excited blond. Thor played the part of a helper well, pointing out the buildings as the passed briefly through the main court on their way to the dorms.

“…Considering it’s the second day, you know this place pretty well already!” Steve mused, impressed the other had such a memory. But from what he had said, Thor only looked sheepish as he answered honestly, but almost a little ashamedly.

“Actually, I was here the year before in the trial of the Academy. Fury let me come back to redeem some… Bad marks.”

Steve looked a little sympathetic but was slightly confused. If given a chance this big, why would you let it get to the point where you’d gone a whole school year without a stable grade level? Had the other even studied?

“What made things so difficult for you, Thor? You don’t seem like a kid silly enough to put yourself at a disadvantage…”

How to explain it, Thor pondered as they wandered through the main doors of the multistorey dormitory.

“…I already have quite a block on mental tasks. I am a physical learner, and it shows in the fact I can thrive on the field in football, but fall asleep when confronted with a book. Last year… I was arrogant. I thought my studies meant nothing and I could redeem anything by conquering the football field and by result bringing glory to the school’s name. I was an idiot, with hot-headed ideas and very bad judgement, and I am just very lucky Principle Fury was kind enough to invite me back. I am trying to do better, and I will not be too proud to ask for help this year. My studies are first… though football is still a close second.” He grinned, lightening the mood in an instant. “I need to keep my sanity in some manner.” 

By now they had reached Steve’s dorm and before the newer student could reply, Thor waved him off inside the room with a simple. “I’ll be waiting out here.”

Inside the room he could already see the signs of his possible roommate settling in, and with a jolt he realised he had forgotten to ask his new helpful friend if he was an on-campus student. It would be nice to know someone in advance. Steve could already imagine the stares he would get sitting down to sit at dinner tonight, a stranger in their midst, and the awkward first encounter with his roommate. But then he realised for once he actually might fit straight in. He was tall, blond, muscled and the perfect image of a football captain he had been invited here to be. For once in his life, Steve Rogers might already fit in the predefined image of popularity, and if he had anything to do with it he would make sure his personality did not shift to the stereotypical bully the teens with his looks tended to be. Then again, he thought about Thor waiting out the front, easily broader than him and only the slightest bit taller. It was scary to think that was how he had naturally grown. And yet even with his superior size and place on the football team, the other seemed genuinely kind if not a little unintentionally dense at times.

It took Steve all of five minutes to throw his paperwork on his bed, change neatly into his SHIELD uniform and gather his books into a satchel. He threw in his drawing pad for good measure in case somehow he ended up miraculously being left alone at lunch to draw like he had at his old school. Bustling out the door and locking it quickly, he gave Thor a brief smile before the other teen started to lead him back downstairs and out the door, babbling animatedly about all the teachers, some of the students who were his friends, and also swapping stories about what subjects they were taking.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at Home Room and Thor entered after knocking twice, like the day before. Warily, Steve followed him while the other blond was explaining his tardiness to the teacher.

“I am sorry again for my tardiness Coulson! But this time my reason really is good! Maria Hill asked me to help our new student find his way to the dorming rooms and then to class, didn’t she Steve?” Thor turned his head back to Steve, beaming as his blue eyes silently asked that he would help his case.

“Y-Yeah, that’s true.” Steve muttered quickly, awkwardly, aware of 42 sets of eyes that had swivelled straight to him as they had walked into the class. He didn’t know what was worse, the hard looks from the guys who seemed to be sizing him up, or the somewhat excited looks from half a dozen girls scattered about the room who looked at him like he was a piece of meat. Trying to ignore them, he gave his new teacher a wary smile, offering a hand in greeting. “I’m Steve Rogers, it’s nice to meet you sir, I’m sorry for my own lateness too. Miss Hill wouldn’t let me go until she was sure I had every piece of information.”

Coulson seemed to positively beam as Steve introduced himself, shaking the others hand right away. “Of course, I’ve heard of you already Mr Rogers, I was one of the biggest supporters behind Principle Fury’s decision to invite you here. Please, just call me Coulson, or even Phil. I’m not so formal in this class… Some teenagers have a mind of their own and will end up calling me anything they like anyway.” He said this last sentence loud enough so most of the class could hear and meet him with laughter, his gaze had wandered off to Tony Stark when he had spoken that line, who responded personally by flashing a wide grin and raising a hand to give Coulson a thumbs up.

“Both of you, sit down, make yourselves comfortable… I believe the desks in front of Tony and Bruce are free. We were just having a bit of a discussion today on some of the academic skills the class would like to learn or practise since we have this whole half hour to ourselves every morning.”

With that dismissal, Thor and Steve did take the seats in front of Tony and Bruce, the class slowly starting to buzz with chatter again, but only some of it focussed on coming up with ideas for Coulson. Bruce was oddly happy again, much brighter to be dragged into conversation now he was not the topic, but the new kid Steve was. His arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.

Even Clint was talking to the others again, blurting out a question even if it was only because he was beginning to worry about the interested look on Natasha’s face as she was observing Steve. “Hey, blondie, you wouldn’t happen to be my roommate would you? Steve Rogers, right?”

Steve smiled sheepishly and nodded, Clint relaxed since he wasn’t the guy who seemed used to attention and he wasn’t exactly revelling in it at the moment even if he didn’t deal with it as badly as Bruce. It took a few moments, probably ten more seconds for Tony to make a sound like ’uhah’ in the back of his throat and he piped up, not glancing up from the screen of his phone or even acknowledging the new students presence.

“Steven Grant Rogers, 16 years of age with a birthday of July the 4th, how patriotic.” He scanned over the information provided on his little smartphone, quirking an eyebrow and reading aloud anytime he found something interesting. “Here on a scholarship…” The way Tony said the word made it feel like he found the concept childish. “…And with a hefty medical history, yet they still want you to captain the football team?”

Everyone in the small group seemed baffled with what Tony had spouted, but none more so than Steve whose brows knotted together as he regarded the young genius with distrust and a mild anger brewing in his eyes. “How did you find that out?” He demanded, voice flat and far from the tentative tone it had been before.

“School files, the encryptions are basic, childsplay. And anyone with half a brain could guess Fury’s password would be a badass actor like ‘Samuel L Jackson’.”

Everyone rolled their eyes at Tony except for Steve who was begin to pick up being annoying was an expected talent of Tony’s. “I feel at a disadvantage, you know all this stuff about me and I haven’t even caught your name…”

It was Tony’s turn to roll his eyes. How adorable, the new captain jock was trying to be his friend. Ew. But even still, he couldn’t resist the urge to drop his name, no doubt he’d be famous across campus within a couple of weeks for both his genius and way with the ladies. He didn’t want a single deed to go unclaimed by name, after all.

“Tony Stark, genius, future owner of Stark industries, engineering expert and mathematical savant, I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it might be a stretch of the truth.” 

Deciding at that moment he didn’t want to waste his time and energy on the likes of Tony Stark, and that he would hopefully be able to avoiding talking to the cocky smart ass over the next year, Steve shook his head and turned his back on Tony. He took the time to introduce himself to Bruce though, and then had a chat with Thor about what to expect on the first session of football training next week.

Clint caught Tony’s eye and gave the other a smug grin, apparently picking up on something that Tony might regret for the rest of the school year.

The genius was not used to being ignored or disregarded, and he was finding he didn’t like it one bit. Steve Rogers just happened to be the first student who really didn’t find him interesting, or didn’t just pretend he did so Tony wouldn’t be a thorn in his side.

Feeling his blood boil just a little as he narrowed his eyes at the short haired, broad shouldered blond, Tony gave up on the lesson in his bad mood and started scribbling designs for what looked like a robot arm in his book.

Without even trying, Tony had made himself a temporary enemy in the school. Oh well, let the charm of being the new kid wear off, he thought bitterly, they would see who was really liked best in a few weeks time.

Tony Stark definitely didn’t like this new challenger to his crown at the pinnacle of high school popularity. And this was mainly, he admitted sullenly as he watched Thor, Bruce, Clint and even the stoic Natasha laugh at one of Steve’s shyly delivered jokes, because he thought the buffed up blond had a very good chance of, in the end, being more likeable than the sarcastic genius.

\---

Steve’s first day had been, in the end, much better than he could have anticipated. His new acquaintance Natasha had filled him in on the very little he had missed yesterday, and taken him up at the beginning of every lesson they shared together to introduce him to the teachers. She seemed very serious about her place here, and very controlled in her demeanour, but deep down from simple gestures like a small encouraging smile every once and a while, Steve could see she had a good heart that she just kept safe and covered.

Clint was a bit of a riot, every bit the joker as much as Stark, but without the vibe of being a complete arrogant dick and instead it was more of an uncertainty of how to be around people that lead to his excessive humour. Steve could tell already, with his excellent skills of observation, that he was very sweet on Natasha. Bemused by his tendencies to only quiet and sit alert and listen when Natasha was speaking, Steve was glad by the fact he thought he would get along quite fine with his roommate.

Bruce was a really nice guy, the type that might have been Steve’s friend even before he had bulked up and changed so much over the Summer. The bulky blond got a brief vibe that the be-speckled student was half trying to distance himself within each conversation. Maybe it was a situation similar to Natasha, where he kept his distance so a friend could never hurt him, but a niggling feeling in Steve’s stomach told him it was likely something more…

Thor was just as great through the day as he had been in the morning. He was always upbeat and friendly, though sometimes his excitement distracted both himself and Steve from the work they were meant to be doing. Never the less, Steve was glad at least a few solid friends, though they were an odd mix. It was a lot easier to deal with the attention with them there, especially with how the girls who batted their eyelashes at him stayed well and truly away with Natasha near, shooting glares that the red head either didn’t notice or brushed off like they were nothing more than annoying, buzzing flies.

The classes themselves had been no challenge, and his teachers mostly seemed friendly. History had followed homeroom in the morning, and after meeting Mr Watcher, Steve quickly scribbled down he would be interested in an elective on the World Wars. A free period was a nice surprise that followed, and even better was the moment he discovered Thor would be joining him, since he didn’t take IT either. The taller blond with the longer hair lead Steve around the grounds in a quick tour before they settled by the grass of the football field, soaking up the sun and fresh air. When the bell had gone, he had begun to follow Thor before realising he had yet another free, he had decided not to take the subject of Music since he had absolutely no musical ability. Thor laughed merrily before heading off, explaining he needed to be quick because he wanted to see if his mother, who taught the class, might need some help setting up in the hall.

Steve settled back down on the grass, enjoying the quite moment to himself and taking the time to sketch in the back of his Art book. He drew whatever came to mind, mostly quick sketches of the faces of his new friends that were vague, but had just enough of their features to be recognisable. About twenty minutes into his drawings he was surprised by Natasha slinking down to sit beside him.

“…I didn’t know you were an artist, Rogers.”

Spluttering and trying to cover the pictures quickly, he gave something akin to a nervous laugh and shook his head. “Oh no way, just… Just a hobby, you know?”

She merely shrugged, bemused by how quickly he had tried to hide away his sketches. “Wait until this secret gets out. Like the girls here need any more reason to drool over you, then they discover you’re creative on top of everything else!”

Shifting awkwardly, Steve tried to change the topic, slipping his drawing pencil behind his ear.

“…Don’t you do Music, Natasha?”

She shook her head slowly.

“Nope. No Art either, I haven’t got a creative bone in my body, except for drama and dance, but sadly they aren’t subjects. I’ve always got clubs, though, and after school lessons. Besides, as soon as my work gets sent in, next week I’ll be locked away during these free’s working on my Distance Ed Psychology unit. I’m enjoying the sun while I can…” 

Steve shook his head, admiring just how in control the other was, despite just how much she had on her plate.

“Just remember to have fun every once in a while, Natasha, or you’ll work yourself to the bone.”

She merely smiled placidly back at him, giving another quick shrug of her shoulders, before the conversation trailed off into what else Steve’s hidden hobbies were that she would have to tell all the girls about…

\---

Steve and Natasha had walked into lunch together, which had a lot of girls hissing whispers and shooting venomous glares at Steve’s red-headed friend, and funnily enough Clint looked like he was forcing himself to swallow down a bitter tasting medicine of some sort. He eased up slightly though when Natasha, after grabbing her food, went to sit next to him.

Steve found himself waved across the room by Thor, who spent the lunch hour animatedly introducing him to his childhood friends. Volstagg seemed good natured and cheerful, Fandral relatively charming and clearly a flirtatious type of guy, Hogun was, well, grim but respectful enough in greeting. And Sif, Steve quite admired her. She was the only girl who didn’t wear a checked skirt, but instead had personally sewn the school pattern into a set of just above the knee shorts for herself. She seemed bold and dynamic, every bit as jovial as her male friends, and Steve found himself speaking to her for much of lunch, trying to dodge politely around her idea that she wanted to try out for a legitimate place on the football team despite the fact she was a girl.

After lunch had been Biology. Other students were handed back the pop quizzes they had done the day before with the results penned in. Professor Xavier spent most of the lesson revising the questions that they had the most difficulty on, and trying to talk through and explain, bridging the gaps between their prior knowledge. Steve found it all quite fascinating, and was pleased that nothing seemed too foreign to him so far, especially when he noticed the vacant stare of Johnny Storm across the classroom.

The last two lessons of the day were devoted to a double period of Languages, the first for all students, so it pleased Steve that he was finally attending the first lesson of something. 

Mr Lensherr was quite stern looking and had an air that made all students hush into the silence the moment he fixed his piercing blue eyes on them all. He explained this would be a very independent course, where every student would get to pick a language to major in from a list of those he knew. Students wishing to learn the same languages would be grouped together and placed at the same tables and Mr Lensherr would wander around to each group one at a time, taking their questions and testing on some phrasing. He warned them now, solemnly, that he expected a lot if outside work from each and every student and good marks wouldn’t just fall in their laps.

Natasha raised her hand at this point, and Mr Lensherr glanced at her in distant, cold kind of interest, nodding his head to permit her to speak.

“I have two questions sir, the first is can we study a language we are already fluent in as long as it is not English? And the second is, may we study more than one language at a time?” 

Blinking back mild surprise, Mr Lensherr beheld Natasha with mild amusement.

“…Miss Romanov, am I correct? Fury has spoken most highly of you… As for your questions, yes, I will allow you to pursue a greater grasp on a language other than English you already know. However, since you have been speaking Russian since your first words, I cannot allow you to use that as your elective. You may study multiple languages, if you really wish to. I will regard the diversity and dual skills with favour in your reports.”

The rest of the lesson was spent with students scratching their heads and warily asking their neighbours what they were going to pick out of Mr Lensherr’s epic list of about 30 different languages. Natasha had already signed her name down next to German, Italian, French, Spanish and even Latin, just to name a few. The only other kid who seemed crazy enough to consider picking more than one, and had no trouble in deciding, was Loki. He signed in a neat scrawl next to German, Norwegian, French and yes, Latin. Bruce was sneaky and applying his months of living and working in India to scribble down his name next to Hindi.

French, German and Spanish seemed to be the most popular choices in the end, a couple of students enquired about Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese, but Mr Lensherr said if that was an area they wished to pursue he would be of very little help, having never personally travelled into the Asiatic countries and thus never having a need for their languages.

All in all, the school day ended on a high note, dorming kids wandered back to their rooms while the off campuses made their way back home. Everything was starting to feel a little more settled, much more like a routine. SHIELD Academy was a place nearly anyone could get used to, a place where it was rather easy for it to begin to feel like home.

Steve’s first day, had even ended very well, spending the afternoon meeting and chatting with the other kids he would be sharing the dorm with all year. He and Clint took to their rooms and started sorting out whose space would be whose, and what they expected from each other as roommates. As he laid down to sleep that, it took a long time for him to relax and settle, it was difficult to wipe the smile off his face or hush his optimistic thoughts.

Arriving to SHIELD Academy late, he decided, was definitely better than never arriving here at all.


End file.
